Residents of a high-rise tower in Dubai have described how they
managed to escape a fire that ripped through the building in the
middle of the night, sending plumes of smoke into the air and
burning debris falling below.
Flames shot up the sides of the Torch Tower in the second blaze
to hit the high-rise since 2015, forcing hundreds of occupants to
flee.
“We were sleeping and we woke up to the fire alarm and people
screaming,” a resident who gave his name as George told
Reuters.
“We ran down the stairs and it took us about 10 minutes to reach
[the ground] from the 50th floor.
“It was very bad. The fire was very strong at that time, about
1:00am. Then it started calming down over the next two hours.”
The building was evacuated, no injuries were reported, and there
was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze.
The Torch Tower is one of the world’s tallest residential towers
at more than 80 storeys high.
Dubai’s Civil Defence announced at 3:30am (local time) that the
blaze was under control.
“Cooling operations are underway,” Dubai’s official media office
said on Twitter.
More than 40 floors were burning on one side of the building, an
Associated Press journalist near the scene said.
Authorities later shared a photo of the charred and blackened
tower but it was no longer in flames.
Officials said they were working on providing shelter for those
affected.
Dubai police cordoned off several blocks around the building,
keeping people away from the fire’s falling debris.
Hundreds of people were evacuated in 2015 from the same building
when a massive fire swept through the tower.
Fires have affected several skyscrapers in the United Arab
Emirates, including a towering inferno that engulfed a 63-storey
luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year’s Eve in 2016.
Building and safety experts have cited a popular type of
cladding covering the buildings that can be highly flammable.
Earlier this year, Dubai instated new fire safety rules
requiring buildings with quick-burning side panelling to replace it
with more fire-resistant siding.
Authorities have previously acknowledged that at least 30,000
buildings across the UAE have cladding or panelling that safety
experts have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.
A devastating tower fire in London in June killed at least 80
people and prompted Britain to order more thorough testing on the
cladding systems of its towers.
nbcnews
Residents of a high-rise tower in Dubai have described how they
managed to escape a fire that ripped through the building in the
middle of the night, sending plumes of smoke into the air and
burning debris falling below.
Flames shot up the sides of the Torch Tower in the second blaze
to hit the high-rise since 2015, forcing hundreds of occupants to
flee.
“We were sleeping and we woke up to the fire alarm and people
screaming,” a resident who gave his name as George told
Reuters.
“We ran down the stairs and it took us about 10 minutes to reach
[the ground] from the 50th floor.
“It was very bad. The fire was very strong at that time, about
1:00am. Then it started calming down over the next two hours.”
The building was evacuated, no injuries were reported, and there
was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze.
The Torch Tower is one of the world’s tallest residential towers
at more than 80 storeys high.
Dubai’s Civil Defence announced at 3:30am (local time) that the
blaze was under control.
“Cooling operations are underway,” Dubai’s official media office
said on Twitter.
More than 40 floors were burning on one side of the building, an
Associated Press journalist near the scene said.
Authorities later shared a photo of the charred and blackened
tower but it was no longer in flames.
Officials said they were working on providing shelter for those
affected.
Dubai police cordoned off several blocks around the building,
keeping people away from the fire’s falling debris.
Hundreds of people were evacuated in 2015 from the same building
when a massive fire swept through the tower.
Fires have affected several skyscrapers in the United Arab
Emirates, including a towering inferno that engulfed a 63-storey
luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year’s Eve in 2016.
Building and safety experts have cited a popular type of
cladding covering the buildings that can be highly flammable.
Earlier this year, Dubai instated new fire safety rules
requiring buildings with quick-burning side panelling to replace it
with more fire-resistant siding.
Authorities have previously acknowledged that at least 30,000
buildings across the UAE have cladding or panelling that safety
experts have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.
A devastating tower fire in London in June killed at least 80
people and prompted Britain to order more thorough testing on the
cladding systems of its towers.
nbcnews
Read more https://www.nairalaw.com/large-fire-breaks-out-at-dubais-torch-tower-one-of-tallest-in-world/