Fire at another high-rise

A Massive fire gutted 14 floors, including the parking and mezzanine floor, of an under-construction tower located in Al Buheira Corniche on Sunday.

by

Afkar Ali Ahmed

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Published: Mon 30 Jul 2012, 9:49 AM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 11:45 AM

The fire broke out at 11.30am while workers of the two contracting companies were carrying out finishing works at the 42-storeyed-tower. Workers of an electric company, who were fixing electric appliances in the building, said one of their colleagues saw a small fire starting from a short circuit while he was working on the first floor. He sought help from others as the fire spread, they said. Brig. Abdullah Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the Sharjah Civil Defence, confirmed that no casualties were reported as the workers were quickly evacuated from the building when the fire started. He said that the reason of the fire is unknown and the forensic laboratory will issue a report about it soon.

The fire started in the first floor and spread to the upper floors and the mezzanine floor quickly due to the wind. The fire gutted the front side of the building which was constructed using flammable materials that intensified the damage in recent fires in Sharjah.

As soon as the operations room received the call, the fire-fighting teams from Samnan, Al Mina and Muwailih rushed to the site. They worked hard and doused the fire within two hours and started cooling operations. The police cordoned off the area and organised the traffic. There were no need to take help from the civil defence teams of other emirates as the fire was controlled well in time.

The fire incidents in high-rise buildings are increasing in Sharjah and this is the fifth such incident this year after fires gutted Dana, Al Kuwaiti, Al Tayer and Al Baker towers. The reason in most of the incidents was cigarette butts thrown by residents carelessly, according to forensic laboratory.

The Sharjah Civil Defence has been carrying out an intensified campaign to ensure safety and security of newly built residential buildings in the emirate. The inspectors issued warnings to several landlords who were found flouting rules in construction.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com