Abstract:Fire safety and prevention in high-rise residential buildings is a complex system issue. Identifying risk coupling forms and key risk factors at the system level is crucial for improving fire safety standards in China's high-rise residential buildings. To analyze the risk factors of fire accidents in high rise residential buildings and propose prevention and control strategies, 162 major accident cases that occurred in China's high-rise residential buildings from 2015 to 2023 were collected. Using expert interviews and an existing accident causality classification model, the risk factors of these fire accidents were categorized into 5 primary risk factors and 26 secondary risk factors. Using the N-K model, the risk factor coupling values were calculated, the risk coupling forms were quantified, and a coupling hazard evaluation was conducted. Social Network Analysis (SNA) was employed to visualize the relationships between risk factors, analyzing their centrality and accessibility. This revealed the development trends of the risk factors and assessed the probability of one risk factor triggering the occurrence of others. By integrating N-K and SNA, the out-degree of each risk node was corrected, leading to the identification of the key risk factors for fire accidents in high-rise residential buildings. The results indicated that the coupling of multiple risk factors significantly increased the probability of accidents. The primary cause of fire accidents was largely attributed to residents, while risks associated with developers, property management, communities, and regulatory bodies tended to exacerbate the severity of accidents. Preventing the coupling of risk factors related to developers and regulatory bodies could effectively avoid accidents. Risks from developers, communities, and regulatory bodies tended to connect various risk nodes, triggering a coupling effect. Therefore, prevention and control efforts should focus on developers, property management, communities, and regulatory bodies.