Programme announced for European Fire Detection Forum 2026

Running under the theme ‘From Reaction to Prediction: the Next Paradigm of Electronic Fire Safety’, the Forum will examine how new risks, technologies and regulations are changing the way in which fires are detected and responded to when they occur.

Central to the programme is answering the question as to how fire detection can evolve from identifying the physical signs of an already developing fire towards earlier and more intelligent detection of emerging risks.

Challenges and trends

The programme reflects the breadth of that transition. Following the opening address by Euralarm president Peter Mita, Chantal Chalouhi of Jensen Hughes will examine current challenges and trends in European fire safety.

Robert Read (head of European sales at Apollo Fire Detectors) is then going to explore the limits of today’s smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detection, while Sebastian Festag of Euralarm will address the continuing challenge of false alarm prevention.

Other sessions are scheduled to examine remote services and self-testing, sustainability, computer vision and Edge Artificial Intelligence (AI), sensor fusion and predictive fire safety in addition to early gas detection associated with lithium-ion battery incidents.

The Forum concludes by examining an equally important question: ‘Can regulation, standards and certification can keep pace with innovation in fire detection?’

Intelligent response

Peter Mita commented: “The future of fire detection will not be defined by one technology alone. It will depend on how we combine better sensing, AI, new service models and reliable standards in order to detect developing risks earlier and respond more intelligently.”

Mita added: “Moving from reaction to prediction is not simply a technology discussion. It’s a challenge for the entire fire safety ecosystem. The European Fire Detection Forum brings together the different perspectives needed to address that challenge.”

The European Fire Detection Forum is designed to bring together manufacturers, fire safety engineers and consultants, building owners and facility managers, installers and system integrators, regulators, certification and testing bodies, Fire and Rescue Services, researchers and technology innovators.

Booking details

As stated, the Forum will be held (in English) on 2 December at the Congress-Centrum Ost, Koelnmesse in Cologne. Each conference ticket also provides access to the two-day VdS-Fire Safety Cologne 2026, enabling participants to combine the Forum with a visit to the international fire protection trade fair.

Tickets are priced at €395 plus VAT. This includes conference documentation, refreshments and lunch.

The complete programme (including details of the speakers, session descriptions and registration information) is available in the European Fire Detection Forum flyer on the Euralarm website

*Further information is available online at www.euralarm.org