Dubai High Rise Tower Fire

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omaxsteve
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Dubai High Rise Tower Fire

Unread post by omaxsteve »

Not sure where to post this topic. Will add photos when time permits to show what really happens to a building that has caught fire.


Dubai fire lasted three hours until extinguished, building still standing tall. WTC evaporated to dust after burning for one hour.

Regards,

Steve O.
pov603
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Re: Dubai High Rise Tower Fire

Unread post by pov603 »

The building is in an area not too far from where I live so I will try and find out further details in the next few days.
I am pretty sure the construction was an RC [reinforced concrete] frame rather than a steel structure which tends not to be the 'norm' here.
Details are still a bit sketchy but there have been a small number of hi-rise fires over the last two/three years, one of which was in a 'cluster' in an area called JLT [in the tower next door to where some friends have an apartment] over a year ago, the cause of which and the resolution with the residents of, still hasn't been sorted out.
However, I mention it as it caused quite a stir and did have people questioning the integrity of the buildings they lived in [and the safety precautions thereof] but, as things tend to happen here, it soon went very quiet on the matter.
Note also that in 2012 whilst I was working in Doha, Qatar [but not because I was in Doha!] there were a number of fatal fires [at least as reported] in tower blocks under construction but also in a major shopping mall [Doha City Centre Mall] where a large number of children in a crèche/nursery were killed. Afterwards there was an 'intense' investigation by the Authorities of all major public areas which led to a number of lucrative malls being shut as [allegedly] their fire protection systems were inept, ineffective or insufficient.
A large amount of money and 'retro-fitting' was carried out to these major public areas [taking some months in some instances] until they were deemed safe and then the public allowed back in.
One can only imagine what was 'retro-fitted'...
Also in the area I frequent for work purposes, Jebel Ali Port, there are an extremely large number of facilities which either look under-used, or unused, and there are a fairly large number [four that I can think of] facilities that have 'burnt down' in the last few months / year [again, not because I was in Jebel Ali!].
Fires happen, we all know that, but what I tend to find strange is that even with the regulations and 'sign off' for construction purposes being so prescriptive, there does seem to be a higher than normal proportion of incidents like this in the region.
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