Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smoke detectors?

Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by drKarl on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @07:33AM (#31247047)

It might be in general in the US most houses are on a level 2 of "Three little pigs" construction rating, aka made of wood while in Spain most houses and apartments, and in cities most people live in apartment, they're built with bricks which is more fire resistant. Anyway, it might also be that those apartments are decades old and maybe newer constructions do have smoke alarms and sprinklers. I'd say in office buildings they do have smoke alarma and sprinklers by law.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by refurb on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @07:44AM (#31247116)

It's generally the things inside that burn first, not the building itself.

I've seen some raging fires in concrete buildings.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by briHass on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @08:42AM (#31247574)

Exactly. You will be dead long before your house collapses due to smoke inhalation from the burning items inside the house.

For all the typical jokes about US construction, fire safety shouldn't be one of them. We use and mandate drywall with specific fire-ratings, which is very effective at stopping fire from spreading. Our electrical code is one of the strictest in the world and many areas mandate sprinkler systems. Smoke and CO detectors are just a no-brainer, given how cheap they are.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by burntoutfire on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @07:50AM (#31247163)

In Poland, most apartment buildings are either concrete or brick. I've yet to see a fire where more than a couple apartments were affected.

Overall, fires don't register on people's list of dangers very highly (or at all) over here, and that's even with many apartments having gas burners for heating up water or even entire apartments. I've seen a couple of carbon monoxide dectors (people are afraid of gas stoves malfunctioning), but I've yet to see a smoke detector in Poland. BTW the overt attention to fire codes is one the first things I noticed when visiting the US.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by cogogo on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @07:56AM (#31247218)

This sounds very similar to Spain. Thanks! Building materials suppressing the scope of fires sounds like a very plausible explanation. Though Poland has more deaths per capita than the US per the URL I quoted.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by refurb on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @08:50AM (#31247635)

Fires not registering high seems irrelevant? When I lived in Asia, hepatitis B didn’t register high yet it was rampant.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by isbvhodnvemrwvn on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @09:43AM (#31248208)

I mean statistics also show that it's a rather not common thing, and it'd be quite difficult to hide your house or apartment being on fire.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by tgflynn on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @08:03AM (#31247278)

You may have a raging fire but a well designed concrete building should be able to keep it confined to a single apartment. Non-residential buildings with different layouts are another story.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by isbvhodnvemrwvn on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @09:38AM (#31248140)

Fire yes, but smoke might be a different thing. Smoke/fire barrier doors are mostly a thing in commercial buildings.

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Re:Ask HN: Why don't residences in Spain (Europe?) have smok... by cogogo on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @07:50AM (#31247170)

I think this is sort of what I'm getting at. Why don't more people die of fire related causes in a country where many people might not know they need to evacuate if there is a fire?

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