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Discuss this article (3 Comments)Fire breaks out in Sheikh Zayed Road tower
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Wednesday, 14 May 2008
A fire broke out in a skyscraper on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai on Wednesday, with no casualties or injuries reported.
Abu Nasier, head of media coordination at Dubai Civil Defence, said the fire started at 2:12 pm (GMT 1012) on the 30th floor of Al Salam Tecom Tower, a 47-storey building still under construction in Dubai Internet City (DIC).
The building is located along Sheikh Zayed Road behind the BBC World Building in Dubai Media City (DMC).
Related: IN PICS: DIC tower fire
"I can see a beam of black smoke coming out from the top of the building heading southwards," an eyewitness in the Dubai Marina area of the city told ArabianBusiness.com within the first half-hour of the fire breaking.
Emergency response teams, including helicopters, were been dispatched to tackle the blaze. A spokesperson for Tecom said no casualties had been reported. The Al Salam building is 195 metres tall.
Construction of the mixed-use tower is due to be completed this year.
Brigadier General Rashid Thani Rashid Al Matrooshi, director general of Dubai Civil Defence, said that the cause of fire was still under investigation.
"We'll investigate whether all safety measures were in place at the building," Matrooshi told UAE daily newspaper Khaleej Times.
Labourers involved in the tower's construction were mostly out of the building for lunch when the fire began.
"Initially we feared some of our colleagues might have been trapped inside. When we saw thick black smoke billowing out of the building we started panicking," said Jawahar Alam, a worker, told Khaleej Times.
One worker said he was sleeping on the 24th floor of the building when the fire broke out.
"It was one of the scariest moments of my life," said Rasool Al Salam. “I rushed down and ran out of the building."
READERS' COMMENTS
Disclaimer: The views expressed here by our readers are not necessarily shared by ArabianBusiness.com or its employees.
Appalling Response Times
Posted by Rainigade, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 18 May 2008 at 09:44 UAE time
Just yesterday there was a fire in the Downtown Dubai area, behind the South Ridge buildings. A port-a-cabin caught fire and we had a bird's eye view of the whole event. As soon as we realised that there was a fire, we called the emergency number only to be put on hold and subsequently try and explain the location of the fire.
Even in built up areas, many streets have no names or numbers so imagine what it was like explaining the location of a construction yard.
It took quite a while for any emergency response vehicle to appear, by which time the second cabin caught fire. The fire trucks were lost, didnt know how to get to the site and were driving in circles. I always thought that with Dubai being on the forefront of EVERYTHING (as is proudly claimed) that emergency vehicles would have radio contact with each other and with the helicopter that finally arrived to circle above.
By the time the water was unleashed, four cabins were blazing and completely demolished.
Training all around is required, in my humble opinion!
Posted by Rainigade, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 18 May 2008 at 09:44 UAE time
Just yesterday there was a fire in the Downtown Dubai area, behind the South Ridge buildings. A port-a-cabin caught fire and we had a bird's eye view of the whole event. As soon as we realised that there was a fire, we called the emergency number only to be put on hold and subsequently try and explain the location of the fire.
Even in built up areas, many streets have no names or numbers so imagine what it was like explaining the location of a construction yard.
It took quite a while for any emergency response vehicle to appear, by which time the second cabin caught fire. The fire trucks were lost, didnt know how to get to the site and were driving in circles. I always thought that with Dubai being on the forefront of EVERYTHING (as is proudly claimed) that emergency vehicles would have radio contact with each other and with the helicopter that finally arrived to circle above.
By the time the water was unleashed, four cabins were blazing and completely demolished.
Training all around is required, in my humble opinion!
Fire breaks out in Sheikh Zayed Road tower
Posted by Angry in Amwaj, Amwaj, Bahrain on Saturday 17 May 2008 at 10:03 UAE time
There are far too many of these incidents to consider them a coincidence. Is this a testament to the overall quality of construction? Are international construction specifications/standards being comprised to erect these Oases? Or is this the labour force’s way of protesting working conditions?
Posted by Angry in Amwaj, Amwaj, Bahrain on Saturday 17 May 2008 at 10:03 UAE time
There are far too many of these incidents to consider them a coincidence. Is this a testament to the overall quality of construction? Are international construction specifications/standards being comprised to erect these Oases? Or is this the labour force’s way of protesting working conditions?
Fire is a man made event
Posted by Jerry Quayle, London, UK on Saturday 17 May 2008 at 01:32 UAE time
As a premier fire certification, design and consultancy Group operating in the GCC the sight of another ‘under construction building blazing is not too surprising. There is an old saying in the Fire Industry “there are 3 main causes of fire in the world, men, women and children” and as there are unlikely to be women or children in these buildings. We can assume that the source of ignition was a result of operator failure to apply the correct or sufficient safety measures/rules.
The Dubai Civil Defence has done an excellent job in recent years making sure that both the basic plans and the products to be included in these buildings comply with international regulation, however, the biggest cause of accidents remains the installation process and it is seldom the failure of the products themselves.
If the construction companies could see the value in having personnel, of all types, trained on the fire safety aspects of their functions and also the correct installation of items such as built in fire stopping, just think of the lives and money that could be saved and the defence of the reputation of Dubai as a safe place to work and play.
Jerry Quayle – Director IFC Group of Companies
Posted by Jerry Quayle, London, UK on Saturday 17 May 2008 at 01:32 UAE time
As a premier fire certification, design and consultancy Group operating in the GCC the sight of another ‘under construction building blazing is not too surprising. There is an old saying in the Fire Industry “there are 3 main causes of fire in the world, men, women and children” and as there are unlikely to be women or children in these buildings. We can assume that the source of ignition was a result of operator failure to apply the correct or sufficient safety measures/rules.
The Dubai Civil Defence has done an excellent job in recent years making sure that both the basic plans and the products to be included in these buildings comply with international regulation, however, the biggest cause of accidents remains the installation process and it is seldom the failure of the products themselves.
If the construction companies could see the value in having personnel, of all types, trained on the fire safety aspects of their functions and also the correct installation of items such as built in fire stopping, just think of the lives and money that could be saved and the defence of the reputation of Dubai as a safe place to work and play.
Jerry Quayle – Director IFC Group of Companies
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