The European Smoke Alarm Day takes place on Friday 17th November 2023 as part of the programme of activities for the European Fire Safety Week. The European Fire Safety Alliance and the Federation of European Fire Officers (FEU) have launched this EU wide awareness campaign to increase awareness of the need for EU citizens to install smoke alarms in their residential properties and help reduce fire deaths all over Europe.
Approximately 5,000 people die from fire in Europe annually. The rate of fire deaths is 5 times higher in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe. Most of these deaths occur in domestic properties. This figure could be reduced if people installed smoke alarms in their homes. In many countries in Europe there is a legal obligation on homeowners to install smoke alarms. However in other EU countries there is no requirement to do so. Check out more detailed information on the interactive map on our campaign website:
Scientific evidence shows that fire deaths have consistently declined in countries where smoke alarm ownership has increased. Research shows that many EU countries have moved in recent times to make the installation of smoke alarms mandatory for all new construction. This has led to a drop in fire deaths in these countries.
The following European countries have introduced legal obligations to install smoke alarms in domestic properties, namely, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and UK. Additional information on the requirements for smoke alarms in different European countries is available on our campaign website.
However the message is not to get complacent. More needs to be done! Fire deaths are still too high particularly in Eastern Europe. That is why the European Fire Safety Alliance and FEU have joined forces to launch this Europe wide awareness campaign.
This campaign #smokealarmssavelives consists of a campaign website www.smokealarmssavelives.eu, social media posts and videos. The video messages include messages of support from firefighters and politicians across Europe.
We are asking for EU politicians to actively support this campaign and for more European countries to introduce legislation to make it obligatory to install smoke alarms in domestic properties. This will encourage more European citizens to install smoke alarms in their homes and thus help to save more lives.
#smokealarmssavelives
This campaign is part of European Fire Safety Week
