On 28 November 2018, the Modern Building Alliance and the European Fire Safety Alliance (EuroFSA) organised a roundtable event ‘Fire safety: setting the scene for fire safe European buildings’ in the European Parliament. The event was also supported by MEP Bendt Bendtsen (EPP) and MEP Theresa Griffin (S&D) who both acknowledged the need for better and harmonised data collection and knowledge-sharing between countries to achieve better fire safety in Europe.
As recent tragic events have rightly triggered a renewed concern on how to improve fire safety in Europe, the event was a timely opportunity to take stock of the several initiatives put forward in the EU over the past year. Fulvia Raffaelli, Head of Unit in DG GROW, presented an update on the work of the Fire Information Exchange Platform (FIEP), showing good progress when it comes to the work streams on prevention and experience sharing.
The event also gave the opportunity to many different stakeholders to present their perspective. Industry stakeholders, fire fighters, MEPs and Commission’s officials, all agree to take the work on fire safety forward and ensure a holistic approach with accurate data to improve fire safety in Europe.
Importantly, the event was the opportunity to present a new report on fatal residence fires by EuroFSA and the Dutch Fire Service Academy (IFV) where smoking and defective electrical appliances are identified as important causes for fatal residence fires. The report also concludes that most fatal residential fires ignite on upholstered furniture, beds and matrasses and textiles, including clothes. This report is a first step towards a better understanding of fatal residential fires in Europe and precise and up-to-date fire statistics that can support a more efficient regulatory framework.
Find more details about the event here, including presentations of the different speakers. You can find more details about the programme here.
