Theresa Griffin MEP: “Fire Safety is now being recognised as a major EU wide concern”
Last week Theresa Griffin, MEP for the North West of England, opened and hosted the first ever European Fire Safety Week, organised by the European Fire Safety Alliance. A week with a variety of fire safety and fire prevention events. The week started with the exhibition ‘Marks of Pride and Beauty’. An impressive photo exhibition that makes clear that fire statistics isn’t about numbers, but is about people!
The European Fire Safety Alliance is grateful for the support of Theresa Griffin which gave us the opportunity to gather so many relevant partners and activities in fire safety in the heart of the European Community. The European Fire Safety week is of great importance for the recognition that fire safety is a major EU-wide concern and, as Theresa Griffin states, EU citizens will benefit from the fire safety developments that took place last week.
Last year, the European Fire Safety Alliance (EuroFSA) and the Dutch Fire Service Academy (IFV) conducted a pilot project in Fire Statistics. This research delivered important data as a first step towards a better understanding of fatal residential fires in Europe. Griffin is delighted that the European Commission recently released a Public Tender as follow up on this pilot project. The tender that is released now means the European Commission will identify European actions to support data collection and streamlining in statistic on fire casualties, fire safety and fire prevention. And, as Griffin states, these developments will also contribute to the Fire Information Exchange Platform to be used by member states to exchange best practice in community Fire Safety.
Most domestic Fires are after all preventable and we have a shared obligation to keep EU citizens safe.
Based on the findings (best practices, research and recommendations) of the European Fire Safety Week 2019, the European Fire Safety Alliance will propose an EU action plan. This plan will be presented to MEPs and European Commission officials on the Fire Safety Future meeting, that is going to be held at the beginning of 2020.