rbb24 reports that a fire in a care home in Templin, 60 km north of Berlin, killed one resident and injured seven people, including four firefighters. One of the firefighters suffered severe burn injuries.

The fire was reported at 16:50 on Saturday, 11 July and started in the roof. 75 residents had to be rescued and the 108 residents will now have to be rehoused. The fire destroyed the roof of the four storey building and took hours to bring under control. The person who died was too badly burned to be immediately identified.

There was no mention of a sprinkler system in the building and in Germany there is no requirement to fit sprinklers in care homes. Germany has suffered many fires in care homes in recent years. In Europe the Nordic countries, Scotland and Wales require sprinklers in new care homes, with over 50% of existing care homes retrofitted in Finland. The systems have saved many lives. Statistics from the US show that sprinklers reduce care home fire deaths by over 85%.