[koliber]

I have lived in the US and in Europe. In the US, house fires are an almost everyday occurrence. In Europe, they happen much more rarely.

I would imagine that the interior decor is fairly on par in both places, and contributes similarly to the initial risk of fire.

It makes sense that major fires occur more often in the US than Europe, if you think about it. In the US, under the carpet or other flooring material you have wooden floorboards, with air spaces below them. This burns rather well. The structural elements are also made off wood. Once either of these catch on fire, poof.

In Europe, the immediate surface of the floor may be made of wood or another flammable material, but it is attached directly to the concrete substrate. This is much more difficult to burn.

The article did mention that this is pressed laminate wood which is treated not to burn, but rather char slowly. I hope that this type of construction is going to stand up to fire better than the current American wooden construction methods.

[KaiserPro]

The vast majority of UK housing stock is also suspended wood flooring.

However there are vast differences in fire and electrical safety standards. There has been a concerted effort since the 80s to remove flammable sofas, carpets & mattresses. By luck rockwool was the insulation of choice for many years, unlike the states which either used spray foam or some other PE substance.

The standard of electrical safety in the US is comparable to 1960s Britain. (In the UK every plug & every socket _must_ have a fuse. effectively any electrical works demands that RCDs must be installed, which dramatically cut the risk of electrical fires. )

[rsynnott]

Note that fire safety and electrical standards are also very different in the US.

My impression has always been that you _can_ make a wood-framed house, at least, as fire safe as a brick or concrete one, but it's considerably easier for fire safety to be screwed up via improper construction or modifications.