The day will take place on Thursday 10 October and every following 10 October to highlight the dangers and risks of fires. The purpose of the campaign is to highlight the importance of residents acting to prevent or extinguish fires before they get out of control.
As CGDIS's Steve Mack explains, every fire starts off small: "If a glass of water could extinguish the fire in its first minute, it could quickly spread in the next minutes to only be put out by a fire extinguisher. Minutes later, the fire could then need the intervention of a fire engine." He stressed that residents are an important partner in ensuring that fires do not become large catastrophes.
The authorities also took the opportunity to announce the launch of a new and free course on how to prepare and act in the event of a fire. The class, which will last 16 hours in total, will be offered as of Spring 2020 and will cover fire risks in homes, during leisure activities like barbecuing, and how to have children act carefully.
The course will also include a practical component, namely how to use a fire extinguisher properly. A further aspect of the course emphasises prevention, including mandatory smoke alarms. Smoke alarms will be mandatory as of 2020, however there will be no check-ups to ensure each household has installed a smoke alarm. Bofferding explained that the state has come to an agreement with insurers that they cannot blame the government if a household fails to own a smoke alarm.
The law making smoke alarms mandatory only requires the government council report before MPs can vote on it. Smoke alarms will be one of the main topics at the national day for fire prevention on Thursday, which will take place in Dudelange. Retired Hamburg fire director Klaus will be participating at a conference on the subject.
Mack also alluded to a difficulty involving the government-promoted shift towards electric mobility. If electric vehicles catch fire, fire fighters will be faced with a difficult task in extinguishing the fire. Such interventions require a massive amount of water and electric vehicles risk catching fire again over the next hours and days. However, Mack provided assurances that Luxembourgish fire fighters have managed to extinguish such fires and that CGDIS is constantly training its staff to manage new challenges.
CGDIS will also be at the Living Fair at the Luxexpo to highlight fire prevention from 12 to 20 October.
