Sofas bought in 25 member states reached life-threatening condition in less than seven minutes while “stringent” UK safety standards delayed fire growth for almost 25 minutes, it says.

The report says that 3,000 people are killed and 30,000 injured every year across Europe in house fires, half of which involve furniture.

The study has revealed “shocking” evidence that the lives of European citizens are being put at risk by very low – or non-existent – fire safety standards for upholstered furniture.

The research, carried out by a specialist testing centre in the Netherlands1, involved setting fire to sofas bought in each of the 27 EU member states.

It found that 25 out of the 27 sofas reached life-threatening heat and smoke density less than seven minutes after ignition – some in as little as two minutes.

By contrast, the sofa manufactured to the stringent UK (and Irish) fire safety standard slowed the development of the fire, which did not turn into a life-threatening blaze until more than 21 minutes had elapsed.

The sofa burning tests were organised by an EU-wide campaign, “Are You Sitting Comfortably” 2 (www.rusc.eu).

The campaign website includes a specially developed interactive tool which allows people to watch how fast their country’s sofa went up in flames compared to sofas from other EU member states.

It also includes videos, photos of the tests and practical advice on how to prevent fires in the home.

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