Tema Sistemi recreates the fire that occurred in the RSA "Casa per Coniugi" for the Milan Prosecutor's Office investigation

In addition to the various tests and trials carried out by Eng. Davide Luraschi and colleague Eng. Giovanni Cocchi, which also included evaluation with Fire Safety Engineering methods and field modeling with computational thermofluid dynamics (CFD) techniques, the reconstruction of the fire at the RSA "Home for Spouses" was a key step in fully understanding what happened that tragic night. The objective of the experiment was twofold: on the one hand, to reconstruct exactly the dynamics of the accident and the burden of the non-functioning of the 'smoke and heat detection system, and on the other hand, to assess whether the presence of an automatic fire protection system of active protection could have made a difference and prevented the tragedy.

To do so, Tema Sistemi recreated with extreme precision the room from which the fire originated. Every detail of the setting was taken care of, thanks also to the collaboration of the Teicos company, which took care of the transfer of the original furniture, taken from the RSA and kept by the NIA in Montelibretti (Rome). Every element of the environment was faithfully repositioned thanks to 3D surveying by Arch. Umberto Dubini, from structures to furniture, to ensure the most realistic simulation possible. All the material is that of the original RSA, from floors to wall coverings, medical equipment, mattresses, beds and blankets, to switches and lamps.

The initiation phase-under the supervision of NIA and Eng Luraschi-was carefully designed to reproduce the conditions of the accident. A dummy equipped with a device was used to simulate the act of smoking, the administration of oxygen (with the exact percentage of it), and the accidental dropping of embers.

The fire ignition occurred at 11:19:08 a.m. on November 13, 2024.
Over the next few minutes, flames began to spread gradually, initially affecting the bed and the plastic tube of the oronasal cannula. At the same time, a layer of hot smoke began to form under the soffit of the ceiling, which gradually thickened.

About five minutes after the start of combustion, then at 11:24:08 a.m., the smoke layer reached a lower level, reaching below the beam located above the head of the bed. Meanwhile, the flames had already reached a significant height. Burning material from flammable liquids leaked from the burning mattress was visible under the bed.
By the sixth minute (11:25:08), the layer of hot smoke had descended below the height of the bed.

Nozzle Model Used: water mist nozzle ASN by Aquatech®
Type: pop-up nozzle fully recessed into the ceiling
Technical Characteristics:
Droplet size: < 100 µm
Density of discharge: ≤ 1lt/m²
Does not cause damage to electrical equipment and furniture
Temperature-sensitive bulb with "Super Fast Response" automatic activation without the need for detection system
Anti-vandalism protective cover with no possibility of accidental tampering

These environments accommodate patients with various pathologies and frailties, for whom evacuation may be particularly complex, often due to limited or absent autonomy of movement (the possible approach with patients with neuropsychiatric conditions is different)

These results indicate that in the presence of an active water mist protection system, the outcome of the fire would have been extremely favorable for the preservation of human life, the safety of people but also the protection of property.