In 2012 the Copenhagen Municipality rolled out a pilot study with mobile fire sprinklers within the Health and Care Administration. The technology was tested in different kinds of special accomodations where there lived people with increased risk of fire due to age, abuse or other factors. The main purpose of the sprinkler is to complement other fire prevention equipment such as stove guards and fire alarms.
The project is now completed with very positive conclusions regarding both the health and security of the care takers as well as reassurance for the staff.
The first 50 unit were installed in 2012. The first incident occured in July that year. A senile care taker started a fire when cooking. That incident showed how quickly the system responds to smoke and heat which prevented any major problems or clean-up cost for the care home and, most important, prevented any injuries for the care taker.
Later that year the Health and Social care Administration decided to escalate the pilot to a total of 270 units. These 220 sprinklers were installed 2013 to 2014. At the end of 2014 there were mobile sprinkler installed in 39 of the 45 care homes within the municipality. 250 of these are managed by the Health and Care Administration and another 23 units are managed by the Social Services. All of these units are placed in accomodations where the personell of each care center identifies an increased risk.
During this pilot study the Copenhagen Fire Brigade have registered nine incidents where the mobile sprinkler have played a crucial part in preventing considerable human and economical cost.