Children and Fire Safety

Child safety is understandably very high on the list of priorities for consumer safety organisations throughout the EU. There have been laudable campaigns for improvements in many areas and most recently we have seen action on the fire safety of children’s nightwear, cigarette lighters and possibly RIP cigarettes which will go some way to reducing the number of fire related deaths and injuries each year in the EU, a significant proportion of which are children.

Children playing with fire cause many domestic fires, but are unfortunately much more frequently the innocent victims of fires in the home caused by the acts or omissions of adults or defects in domestic appliances and services. Most of these fires start very small and it is clear that however hard we try there are some that cannot be predicted or prevented by the householder e.g. the malfunction of an electrical circuit. The danger from these small fires comes from the involvement of the contents of the home, for example upholstered furniture, which results in rapid fire growth, toxic smoke and survival time being reduced to less than 5 minutes.

Regulations which came into force less than 20 years ago in the United Kingdom controlling the ignitability and flammability of furniture has significantly reduced the number of fires caused by children and the number of children killed and injured in all fires in the home.

1991. Children < 16 years-121 deaths-2000 injuries. Total fire deaths 608, injuries 11,000. Approximately 20% made up of children aged 16 years or less.

2005. Children < 16 years- 26 deaths-1400 injuries. Total fire deaths 374, injuries11500. Approximately 7% made up of children aged 16 years or less.

In 1991 there were 54,000 accidental dwelling fires of which 2,900 were caused by matches.

In 2005 there were 47,000 accidental dwelling fires of which 400 were caused by matches.

There is a lesson here. In the EU it is probable that the main risk to children comes not from their own behavior, but that of their parents and other adults and they, at present, have no choice in the safety of the furniture they purchase as it is only in the UK and Ireland that effective fire safety controls exist.

It is also probable that around 20% of the estimated 4,000 fire deaths each year in EU are children.

This must be the biggest risk to child safety in the EU and it should be addressed without further delay.