We’ve announced the winners of our £180,000 funding* competition held to encourage more housing providers to install potentially life saving sprinklers.
The competition was launched after we revealed that we deal with more than ten fires a week in London’s care homes and sheltered accommodation.
Open to social and private housing providers the money was awarded to projects which demonstrated the best value and innovation in protecting the capital’s most vulnerable residents from fire.
One of our priorities is to reduce fires in care homes and sheltered housing. During 2013/14 there were 527 fires in London’s care homes and sheltered accommodation, with two people dying and 34 people being injured.
Deputy Commissioner Rita Dexter said: “Sprinklers not only stop fires from spreading and put them out quickly, they save lives. We’re especially concerned about those who may not know how to react, or be able to react quickly enough, if they hear a smoke alarm.
“All of our competition winners offered genuine safety improvements to residents We’re delighted at the example they’re setting and hope that other housing providers will now follow their lead and install sprinklers.”
• The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham - £84,250 to install a sprinkler system in 33 flats for elderly residents with support needs.
• Camden Council -£82,325 for a system in a block housing 87 sheltered accommodation units.
• Croydon, Harrow and Wandsworth Councils - all secured funding for portable sprinkler units for a number of individual properties.
*The funding earmarked by the Brigade for the Sprinklers Competition has been allocated from the Fire Prevention Grant it receives from the Government specifically for fire prevention work. London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority members agreed that the money should be allocated to support a competition designed to incentivise local authorities to install sprinklers and to help promote the Authority’s sprinkler strategy.