Professor Michael Rost of Magdeburg-Stendal University has made a call for more safety to be invested in buildings. In the years ahead there will be a significant decrease in the numbers of volunteer fire-fighters.

On Saturday, 30th March, at 22:10 a fire on the third floor of an apartment building in Aubervilliers spread to the fourth floor through the lift. Three people were killed and 13 injured, of whom four seriously.

Kilsby in Northamptonshire is the site of a major transport hub for UK distributers. At just after 05:00 on 31st October 2012 the sprinkler system at the Tesco grocery distribution depot operated when a fire occurred in the aerosol compound.

On 4th November, two fire-fighters were killed in a flashover at a house fire at Digne-les-Bains in the Alps.

The Geneva Association, an organisation funded by the world's leading insurance companies, has published its compilation of fire statistics for 2009. The tables in the report show fire deaths and monetary losses for almost 30 countries. In Europe the fire