WRITTEN QUESTION E-0628/98 by Christian Cabrol (UPE) to the Commission (9 March 1998)

Subject: Preventing household fires

Every two minutes, on French territory alone, a fire breaks out in a private household; the annual total of such outbreaks is 250 000, 77 000 of which entail calling in the fire brigade. Household fires are responsible for 90% of fire accident fatalities; and fire is the second largest cause of accidental deaths amongst the under-fives. 70% of household fires occur between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and a recent inquiry has shown that 88% of the French population believe that it would be 'a good idea' to instal fire detectors in all houses. Only 2% of French households are so equipped.

Does the Commission

1. have reliable data for all the Member States about accidents caused by household fires, detailing the circumstances, causes, victims and social costs? Has the Commission already had this data analysed on a country-by-country basis, so as to compare the impact of different types of national legislation on the prevention of such accidents?

2. not believe that it would be useful and indeed essential to study this issue in depth at Union level, and, following such a study, is the Commission prepared to put forward appropriate legislation on the prevention of household fires - with all the human tragedy and major cost that they represent in terms of treating the victims and reimbursing the material losses sustained - by making it obligatory, for example, to install smoke detectors in all homes, as is done in other parts of the world?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (14 April 1998)

The Commission is well aware of the number of household fires which occur, and the number of people killed or injured by them.

Within the framework of Community cooperation on civil protection, a pilot project is under way to compare current legislation in six Member States on the prevention of fires in buildings open to the public, including households. An initial project report has indicated that some Member States might have national statistics available. The project could also be extended to include the other Member States, and its results used to fuel a debate on how better to protect against household fires.

Still within the framework of Community cooperation on civil protection, there are plans for a major project to come up with principles and guidelines on the prevention of all forms of natural and technological hazards.

It must be emphasised, however, that these two initiatives will not be realised unless the budgetary authority provides budget heading B4-3300 'Community cooperation on civil protection and environmental emergencies' with the requisite appropriations to implement the 1998-99 Community action programme in the field of civil protection adopted by the Council on 19 December 1997 by Decision 98/22/EC ((OJ L 8, 14.1.1998. )).

As for the safety of materials in terms of reaction and resistance to fire, the Commission is currently harmonising, at European level, the classification of construction products and the test methods needed to verify these characteristics. This work comes under Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products ((OJ L 40, 11.2.1989. )) and is intended to meet one of the six essential requirements applying to works, i.e. safety in the event of fire. Practical results are expected for the end of 1999.

Lastly, with regard to statistical coverage, the Honourable Member is referred to the answer to Written Question E-3261/97 by Mr Skinner ((OJ C 158, 25.5.1998, p. 74. )). In addition, the European Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System (Ehlass) could provide some Community statistics on domestic and leisure accidents, including their consequences, the age and sex of the victims, the time and place of the accident, the injuries and products involved. Ehlass gives some indication of the number of accidents and their social cost. However, as the system is generally based on information gathered from hospital emergency departments, fatalities at the scene of the fire are not recorded. A study would therefore be needed which included additional sources of information; no such study has yet been undertaken.