The Firefighter Algorithm: A Hybrid Metaheuristic for Optimization Problems

TL;DR

The paper introduces the Firefighter Optimization (FFO) algorithm, a new hybrid metaheuristic inspired by firefighting strategies, which shows competitive or superior performance compared to existing algorithms on various benchmark functions.

Contribution

It proposes the FFO algorithm, a novel hybrid metaheuristic inspired by firefighting strategies, and evaluates its performance against 13 established algorithms on multiple benchmarks.

Findings

FFO achieves comparable or better fitness results.

FFO demonstrates efficient search space exploration.

FFO often outperforms in terms of computational time.

Abstract

This paper presents the Firefighter Optimization (FFO) algorithm as a new hybrid metaheuristic for optimization problems. This algorithm stems inspiration from the collaborative strategies often deployed by firefighters in firefighting activities. To evaluate the performance of FFO, extensive experiments were conducted, wherein the FFO was examined against 13 commonly used optimization algorithms, namely, the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Bat Algorithm (BA), Biogeography-Based Optimization (BBO), Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), Harmony Search (HS), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Simulated Annealing (SA), Tabu Search (TS), and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA), and across 24 benchmark functions of various dimensions and complexities. The results demonstrate that FFO achieves comparative performance and, in some scenarios, outperforms commonly adopted optimization algorithms in terms of the obtained fitness, time taken for exaction, and research space covered per unit of time.