Optimisation of Emergency Response Resource Deployment in Anambra State Fire Service

Emergency response effectiveness in Anambra State, South East Nigeria, is constrained by suboptimal fire station placement, inadequate vehicle deployment policies, and slow dispatch protocols that increase average response times beyond acceptable safety thresholds. This study applies covering location modelling, specifically the Maximum Coverage Location Problem, to optimise the positioning of fire fighting resources across Anambra State. Geographic information system data on road network, population density, historical fire incident locations from the Anambra State Fire Service (2019 to 2023), and existing station coordinates are compiled for the analysis. Demand nodes are defined at ward level, and the model determines which candidate station locations from a set of 18 options should be activated to maximise the proportion of population within a 10-minute response time radius. The model is solved using integer programming with a constraint on maximum budget equivalent to current operational expenditure plus 20 percent. Results indicate that relocating two existing stations and activating one new station in Onitsha North increases coverage from 63 percent to 84 percent of state population within the response time standard. Vehicle dispatch optimisation using dynamic priority queuing further reduces average response time by 2.8 minutes. The study recommends implementing GIS-based real-time dispatch optimisation to complement station repositioning. Keywords: maximum coverage location problem, fire service, emergency response, Anambra State, GIS optimisation.