I lived in France for 12 years and I never saw a smoke detector or sprinkler system there. I think the difference in death rates (based on your link Western Eu

I lived in France for 12 years and I never saw a smoke detector or sprinkler system there. I think the difference in death rates (based on your link Western Europe has less than half the death rate of the US) is mostly due to differences in construction materials. In the US nearly all single family homes are built from wood while in Europe most buildings of any kind are made from stone, brick, reinforced concrete, etc. Beyond that though there seem to have been a lot of deaths in the US in tenement like buildings in cities which usually have brick facades, though I'm not sure what materials were/are used internally. In the US these types of buildings usually had/have external fire escapes, another feature I never saw in France. I think European apartment buildings have traditionally had fire-safe structurally isolated apartments. This was probably not the case in pre-war US buildings. Modern US apartment buildings often do have that feature. The building I am currently living in was built in the 70's and is reinforced concrete. Apartments have smoke detectors but they only sound inside the apartment. The building also doesn't have external fire escapes and the recommendation is to stay in your apartment if the building fire alarm goes off unless instructed to evacuate by firefighters. On the other hand Europe has in the more distant past had major issues with fire safety. Much of London burned down in 1666 and ancient Rome is also known to have had some major fires. It seems like Europe had learned some lessons about fire safety by the time the majority of its current buildings were constructed that the US either forgot or chose to ignore.