Rafael Reyes (Madrid Fire Brigade): " Smoke detectors save lives"

How is fire prevention in buildings evolving in Spain?

Fire prevention in Spain is based on regulations and they always seem to lag a bit behind the current needs of any given time. Fortunately, we now have the Technical Building Code, after the basic building regulations and other previous regulations. The Technical Building Code has a national scope and establishes all the conditions for compartmentation, evacuation, fire brigade intervention, etc. 

What measures are needed to raise public awareness on this issue?

I believe that a major campaign is needed, at a general level, to promote and raise awareness among citizens of the importance of fire prevention, not only of risks in the home, but also of the measures to be taken in case a fire does occur. All the campaigns we have done, where we talk for example about the risks of batteries and heating appliances and the importance of locking doors, always end up with the same idea, which is the need to install smoke detectors in our homes.

What are the benefits of smoke detectors?

The detector, although it is a stand-alone device and not a system, is a device that emits an alarm as soon as a fire starts and that gives you enough time, even if you are sleeping or in another area of the house, to evacuate safely or even try to put out the fire if it is a small outbreak. Otherwise, you can always close the door and leave the house without further risk.

Smoke detectors are proven to save lives. Studies of fire casualties in Spain show that more deaths occur at night and in the early hours of the morning, when people are asleep. It also follows that having such detectors in our homes is essential to reduce the number of such victims.

What is the most dangerous thing in the event of a fire in a building?

We have the idea, especially after cases like Campanar in Valencia, that if we stay inside a room during a fire, we can die. But that was a very specific incident. This is not the case in 99.9% of the fires that occur in Spain, so in the vast majority of cases the general rule of thumb is to protect oneself from smoke, bearing in mind that smoke is more dangerous than fire.

Two out of three fire fatalities are caused by smoke inhalation poisoning, not burns. Therefore, the most important thing is to try to contain the smoke and this is done by always closing the doors.