www.europeanfireacademy.eu THE EUROPEAN FIRE ACADEMY Achievements & Outlook René Hagen EФA Vice President 11 September 2008
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
THE EUROPEAN FIRE ACADEMY
Achievements & Outlook
René HagenEФA Vice President
11 September 2008
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
What we are
EФA is:
1. an informal platform for those interested in fire services and catastrophe management – an “Academy”
2. the exchange of best practices
3. the expert body for fire safety issues
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
3rd Roundtable - Arnhem
2nd Roundtable - Hanover
1. Informal platformSince 2005:• 7 Roundtables
• 49 different organisations
• Over 40 participants
Dialogue with • European Commission
• European Parliament
• Burn victims associations
• Technology partners
• Academics
• Media
Website: www.europeanfireacademy.eu
1st Roundtable - Brussels
4th Roundtable - Brussels
5th Roundtable - Budapest
6th Roundtable - Paris
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
2. Best practices
• EФA is the forum to exchange best practices and lessons learned
Examples:
• Communication in communities - Merseyside / London Fire Brigade
• Fatal fires such as in Paris hotels (FR) and in the Schiphol detention centre (NL)
• The challenges of European co-operation: Fighting forest fires Greece – Budapest Fire Brigade
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
Merseyside / London
• Fire safety within the community
• Similar initiatives in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Amersfoort)
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
Fatal hotel fire & attacks on services in Paris
Paris “hotel” fire – 16 April 2005:
• Fire killed 22 people, 10 children, 53 injuries
• Most of the inhabitants were immigrants, social housing
Lessons learned:• Importance of safe social housing
• Need of efficient communication with vulnerables (children, immigrants)
Paris riots – 2005 / 2007• Attacks on firemen and stations
Lessons learned:
• New challenge for fire services
• Need to upgrade protection of men and stations
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
Schiphol detention centre burn – NL
Schiphol detention centre burn 27 October 2005:• 11 fatalities, 15 injured
• Report of the independent Dutch Safety Board:
– unsafe detention conditions
– inadequate implementation of safety recommendations
– insufficient training on the part of the guards
– inadequate intervention upon discovery of the fire
Lessons learned:• Focus on fire safety in prisons
• Attention for content (bedding)
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
European Cooperation – Budapest Fire Brigade
Forest Fires Greece, August 2007:• State of emergency; Athens asking for international help• Budapest fire brigade dispatches team• Team to assist on island of Evia:
– Find origin and contain fire– Highly challenging conditions– Monitor extinguished areas
Lessons learned:• Equipment not compatible• Lack of continuous water supply
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
3. Expert body
EФA offers expertise to third parties:
• DG Enterprise request for data regarding fires resulting from electrical applications
• EФA keen to provide input to collection of EU fire statistics
• EФA members support initiatives to improve of fire safety of consumer products
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
Why working groups?
• New format due to significant increase in participants – allow & stimulate discussion
• 3 Working groups (presentations, discussion, results)– Statistics– Domestic & hotel fire prevention– Communication to consumers & vulnerables
• Presentation on Friday (reporting back, discussion, next steps):– Clear objectives– Concrete actions moving forward
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
What we want to achieve today & tomorrow
Working groups to present specific objectives & concrete actions:
• Statistics: How can we realistically acquire reliable data?
• Domestic & hotel fire prevention: How can we improve fire prevention?
• Communication to consumers & vulnerables: How can we upgrade communications?
For your discussions:
• How can we support the European Commission?
• Should we include the “effects of climate change on our duties” as a 4th priority?
• How can we attract new members from southern Europe?
www.europeanfireacademy.eu
What we have done since Paris
• We have presented EФA to Meglena Kuneva, European Commissioner for Consumer Protection
• We have established close dialogue with DG SANCO
• We are invited to meet with Arlene McCarthy Chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in October
• We have supported ACFSE in
– TV burn demonstration in The Hague in April
– UF burn demonstration in Delft in June
• We have introduced visiting programmes
• We have had regular contact amongst ourselves