News

Older adults (65+) face an increased risk of injury or fatality in domestic home fires. The ageing population, combined with the expectation that more people will continue to live independently instead of moving to a residential care home or nursing home, emphasizes the need to focus on promoting fire safety behaviours in this age group….

After over two years of discussion, analysis and negotiations, the European Parliament adopted the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) on March 12, 2024. The proposed revision of the EPBD aimed to progressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption in the EU building sector and make it climate neutral by 2050. It also…

Ahead of the 2024 European elections, organisations representing consumers, fire experts and industries actively working on fire safety in the European Union have launched a support campaign calling for a EU Fire Safety Strategy. Members of the European Parliament, candidates, and crucial stakeholder organizations/companies are invited to endorse the manifesto ‘Keeping EU citizens fire safe…

The project Feel Safe by Save the Children, Italy is the winner of the European Fire Safety Award. Congratulations! Feel Safe introduces children to an interactive methodology where experience becomes a decisive factor in learning. The entire process is primarily based on the collective processing of ideas and interaction with the environment in a fun…

Considering the approaching end of the European Parliament term, based on the conclusions of this year edition of the European Fire Safety Week, eighteen European organizations working on improvement of fire safety in the EU, including the European Fire Safety Alliance, launched the EU Manifesto for 2024-2029 #KEEPEUFIRESAFE. This initiative urges the European Union to…

The European project ‘Closing data gaps and paving the way for pan-European Fire Safety Efforts’ was successfully completed in 2022. The EuroFSA was one of the participating consortium partners, and Rene Hagen was the project leader of the sub-project ‘Data needed for decision making’. Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV) also worked…

The European Fire Safety Alliance, together with 17 other organizations that focus on improving the (fire) safety of European citizens, has sent a letter to Mr Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the European Commission. This letter calls for the establishment of a structural coordination of all initiatives of the European Commission with regard to the…

This project, a studentship at the University of Manchester, lead by professor Stefan Bouzarovski, aims to investigate the relationships between domestic fire safety and energy poverty. It starts from the premise that households who struggle to afford needed energy services in the home are also disproportionately exposed to fire risks, due to the poor quality…

The European Fire Safety Alliance, together with twelve other organizations focussed on improving the safety of European citizens, has sent a joint letter calling on the European institutions to include the fire, electrical, gas and CO safety provisions proposed by the European Parliament in the final text of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive…

The 7th International Safety Education Seminar 2023 will take place at the Design Center in Linz (Austria) on November 23rd and 24th, 2023. You are invited to present your work.  The main themes of this year’s seminar are focussed on: fire safety education from Kindergarten to University fire safety strategic planning how to influence the…

At the 15th International Congress Fire Safety & Science, (inter)national experts present the latest results, insights and developments in the field of fire safety research, Fire Safety Engineering and innovative fire fighting. This year’s focus is on the relationship between sustainable building, energy transition and fire safety.  Program The program consists of a combination of…

At least a quarter of fires are caused by an electrical problem in (household) equipment or installations. This is usually the result of a faulty design. In addition, the fire safety performance of the cables also plays a role.To get an impression of the fire behaviour of two different types of cables and their influence…

The first edition of European Smoke Alarm Day took place on Friday 18th November 2022 as part of the programme of activities for the 4th European Fire Safety Week. The European Fire Safety Alliance and the Federation of European Fire Officers (FEU) launched this joint EU wide awareness campaign online to increase awareness of the…

The Final Report concludes that due to the lack of common terminology or variables with a similar nomenclature covering different aspects, fire statistics and data cannot always be compared between countries. This hinders e.g., effective cross-learning about successful fire safety interventions. To develop a comprehensive evaluation, this research has identified fourteen variables that should be…

Many fatal residential fires are caused by upholstered furniture and mattresses. Due to an ageing population and renovation wave, these numbers will increase in the EU. There are now several possibilities to make them sustainable, circular and more fire-safe. What’s the problem? Every year, around 5,000 people die from residential fires in the European Union,…

On Wednesday, May 18, the ENVI and EMPL Committees in the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of their joint report on the Social Climate Fund (SCF), which included a number of references to fire safety measures accompanying energy-related building renovations. These measures have been included into the definition of “building renovation” to be supported…

The Leitrim County Council fire service won the prestigious European Fire Safety Award for 2021 for the Erasmus+ funded ‘BFireSafeatSchool’ project at the 6th International Safety Education seminar (www.ises2021.eu) held in Croke Park Dublin recently. The award is sponsored by the European Fire Safety Alliance and the Federation of European Fire Officers (www.f-e-u.org). It was…

Statistics show that at least 36% of fires at home started in upholstered furniture and mattresses. The number of deaths and injuries can drop significantly if the fire safety of upholstered furniture and mattresses is improved. In 2016 the Institute for Safety started a co-operation with a retailer with the purpose to initiate a new…

Lieuwe de Witte has been appointed as Professor of Fire Safety at the Instituut Fysieke Veiligheid (IFV, Institute for Safety). He will take over from René Hagen, who is leaving the IFV in June this year. Rene continues his activities for the EuroFSA as a member of the core group. Mr De Witte looks forward…

Electricity has become a vital part of everyday life over the past 100 years. However, in addition to the benefits it brings, electricity can also be dangerous if not managed properly. Every year, about 30 people in the Netherlands and about 5000 people in the EU die because of a residential fire. Statistics show that…

At least a quarter of fires are caused by an electrical problem in (household) equipment or installations. This is usually the result of a faulty design. In addition, the fire safety performance of the cables also plays a role. To get an impression of the fire behaviour of two different types of cables and their…

Every year, about 5000 people in the EU die as a result of a residential fire. Statistics show that at least 36% of fires in dwellngs started in upholstered furniture and mattresses (Annual overview of fatal residential fires 2020, 2021). International research shows comparable figures. The number of deaths and injuries can drop significantly if…

“As long as sofas and mattresses will produce an extensive amount of smoke, every individual fire safety measure will be insufficiently effective to reduce smoke propagation. The combination of limiting the use of synthetic materials (especially foams) in furnishing and closing the doors is the most effective combination of fire safety measures”, according to researchers…

On the 17-18-19th November, five high-level online events about fire safety were co-organised by the European Fire Safety Alliance (EuroFSA). More than 32 speakers succeeded to share their expertise, draft recommendations, bring their concerns, request to bridge gaps and lead EuroFSA in defining the actions to be undertaken by the next edition in 2021.  EuroFSA…