April saw three serious fires in care homes in The Netherlands. On 9th April a fire, thought to be started by a cigar at about 18:30, led to the death of a man in the St Joris care home in Oirschot.

The government of the Canadian State of Ontario has announced that it will require 4,300 unsprinklered care homes, built before sprinklers became mandatory in new care homes in 1998, to fit sprinklers.

The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reports that the Norwegian government has announced it will invest NOK 10 million to fit sprinklers in all 28 of the country's wooden-stave churches.

Glen Thomas from Merseyside F&RS reports that at about 13:50 on Bank Holiday Monday, 6th May 2013, there was a successful sprinkler activation at St Chad's Parade Shopping Centre in Liverpool.

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.

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