## 1 Introduction
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Structure Type**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Date of Accident**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Deaths/Injuries**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Probable Cause(s)**} \\ \hline Shopping mall (Tianjin) & 30 June 2012 & 10/16 & Short-circuit in the storage room located on the first floor. \\ Apartment building (Shanghai) & 15 November 2010 & 58/71 & Welding in the maintenance of building’s external facade in violation of safety regulations. \\ Commercial building (Jilin) & 5 November 2010 & 19/24 & Short-circuit in the storage room located on the first floor; some fire extinguishing equipment not available or out of operation. \\ Dance club (Shenzhen) & 21 September 2008 & 44/58 & escape route did not follow fire safety regulations and was too narrow. \\ Hospital (Liaoyuan) & 15 December 2005 & 40/95 & Short-circuit in the electrical room; some fire extinguishing equipment out of operation. \\ Hotel (Shantou) & 10 June 2005 & 31/21 & were locked; the water pressure of the fire hydrant was insufficient. \\ Iron mine (Heibei) & 20 November 2004 & 68/0 & Welding slag burned wood supports in the mine tunnel. \\ Shopping mall (Jilin) & 15 February 2004 & 54/70 & A cigarette end in the temporary storage room was not extinguished. \\ Shopping mall (Luoyang) & 25 December 2000 & 309/7 & Welding operation conducted in violation of safety regulations; a number of exits and escape routes were blocked or locked. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Major structural fires in China over the past two decades. degradation of the components and with regard to safety. In 2004, [PERSON] et al. [7] conducted a field study in Spain, visiting 164 hotels and analyzing the status of their fire protection systems. Along with advances in information and communication technologies, better approaches are adopted for fire safety inspection simulation and education. [PERSON] et al. [8] proposed a simulation training system for fire safety inspection to be used in colleges and fire brigades, based on three key technologies: three-dimensional (3D) geographic information systems, 3D modeling technology, and visualizations of human-computer interaction. [PERSON] et al. [9] investigated the effectiveness of using an on-line training program for improving awareness of fire prevention in hospitals and found that visual-based on-line training can greatly improve healthcare workers' knowledge about fire prevention and evacuation. [PERSON] et al. [10] proposed an architecture for a smart system that provides customized instructions for an occupant to evacuate a building in the event of a fire; the system incorporates 3D building models with the support of 3D building models and a real-time location system (RTLS). Some researchers have focused on inspection criteria. [PERSON] and a co-worker discussed how a building safety inspection system should accommodate buildings constructed in accordance with previous prescriptive standards by a fire risk assessment to determine the safety index [11] and from the index to rank the priority of improvement actions [12]. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [13] analyzed the catastrophic behavior of a flashover and developed a more appropriate way to determine the inspection criteria for flashover in compartment fires. Associated with the criteria of fire safety inspection is a fire safety assessment. For large-scale commercial buildings, [PERSON] et al. [14] proposed a fire risk assessment system based on the fire characteristics and the state of maintenance of fire equipment in the buildings. The proposed assessment system focused on evaluating the safety performance of the fire protection systems in the buildings. The Central Business District of Dares Salaam City carried out a study to assess urban fire risk with respect to public awareness on the use of firefighting facilities and preparedness in the event of the outbreak of fire [15]. The policy and making of laws and regulations with regard to fire safety inspection is also an active topic of research.