Pernille Weiss (S&D, Denmark) and Carlos Zorrinho (S&D, Portugal) called for more action on fire safety at a webinar organised by the European Fire Safety Alliance. The MEPs underlined the increasing vulnerability of an ageing population and the increased domestic fire risk with home working under Covid. René Hagen, IFV Netherlands and firefighter underlined that fires today produce massively more smoke, giving less time to escape. Fulvia Raffaeilli (photo) and Heikki Vänännänen, DG GROW, underlined the importance of including fire safety in building energy “Renovation Wave”. They announced a Commission JRC study launched to survey and compare fire safety engineering standards and training across Member States. Felix Bloch, DG ECO, explained that the EU is developing a network of civil protection actors across Europe, which will provide a space for exchange between fire services and stakeholders. Quentin de Hults, Modern Building Alliance, underlined the need to improve training and accreditation of experts in fire safety design and verification. He called for a strong action in Horizon Europe on building fires. Benoït Dome, FEEDS (see in this Newsletter) underlined that the proliferation of electrical equipment increases fire risk, and that this will accelerate with 5G.
Webinar, 29th September 2020 https://www.europeanfiresafetyalliance.org/news/lets-improve-european-fire-safety-mep-event-29th-of-september/