Europe is Playing with Fire
Upcoming media event
Fire Safe Europe, leading EU fire safety association, launch new white paper:
Europe is Playing with Fire
On 2nd December 2014 Fire Safe Europe launch a new white paper entitled “Europe is Playing with Fire”. On the same day, firefighters from Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Bulgaria, Ireland, Finland and Croatia will visit the European Parliament to discuss their concerns with MEPs and to support this important FireSafetyFirst campaign, to improve fire safety in buildings.
Here’s an extract from “Europe is Playing with Fire”:
- Do children in Italy run six times faster than those in Germany? If not, then why do they have 60 meters to the nearest fire exit instead of 10 meters like children in Germany?
- Is the life of a Czech citizen worth more than that of other EU citizens? If not, then why does only the Czech Republic require non-combustible materials in fire compartment walls? And why do most fire safety standards remain so poor, antiquated and unharmonized?
- Why is there no EU safety strategy against fire deaths? There is one for road deaths and these have decreased by 33% from 2003-2010.
- How fast does our home burn? 8 to 15 minutes you may guess, because that’s the average time it takes for the fire and rescue service in Europe to arrive at a fire. But typically it only takes 3 minutes for a small fire to get out of control! Whereas in the 1950’s it would take 25 minutes. Today we are using more flammable materials, but fire testing seriously fails to take that fully into account.
- The greatest fire-related killer is the toxicity of smoke. It’s responsible for more than half of all fire-related fatalities ie 100 deaths every day. Furthermore, it’s suspected to contribute to the high number of cancer deaths among firefighters. Why then is smoke toxicity not regulated for in Europe although international standards do exist?
Are you interested in receiving more information about this campaign? Would you like to interview one of the visiting firefighters to hear from them about why this campaign is important?
Contact information:
Fire Safe Europe
Paula Bateman
D (+44) 0208 222 7408
M (+44) 07970 142837
secretariat@firesafeeurope.eu
Let’s all work for a fire safe Europe now!
Join the campaign on: www.firesafetyfirst.eu and www.facebook.com/firesafetyfirst
FireSafetyFirst is a European campaign, which aims to improve fire safety in buildings for European citizens. It is a broad based alliance of fire experts, fire-fighters, international companies and European associations.
Our Vision – to have a fire safe Europe.
Our Mission – to improve fire safety in buildings for European citizens.
