JLT fire shocks residents

A major fire in a 34-tower residential tower in the Jumeirah Lakes Tower area has again raised safety concerns in Dubai's high rise buildings.

Debris and charred remains are all that is left behind of the Tamweel tower as residents rushed to take shelter in nearby parking lots.
The fire started around 2:00 AM early on Sunday morning as fire alarms in the Cluster U buildings woke up residents shortly after the fire had started.
Danielle Kamar, who lives behind the Tamweel Tower was also evacuated from her apartment as part of the safety procedures.
'It's right behind the building I live in so they evacuated us too for safety reasons. We had to stay outside from 2AM when the alarm first went off until 7 AM when the fire was more contained,' said Danielle.
Several residents were taking refuge in parking lots as fire fighters tried to contain the blaze for over five hours.
'From downstairs in Cluster X, we could hear the fire crackling, there were ashes floating everywhere and these huge, flaming chunks were falling off the building starting their own on-ground chaos. Different facades of the building were just bursting into flames.'
Eye witnesses reported seeing damaged cars in the area. Saad Kayyali, another resident in the area shared a similar story.
'I went outside my balcony after hearing sirens and I could see yellow reflections. I knew there was something wrong and I immediately came down from my building,' said Saad.
Twitter users were first to break the news as they shared photos of the tower and posted videos on Youtube.
Nabila Usmani (@NabsUsmani) tweeted, 'My bldg tamweel towers in JLT dxb caught fire. All of us are safe at a relative's place. None of us have our phones with us. Don't worry.'
Nidhi Jha, another eyewitness in the area said, 'The police were evacuating people and we could hear fire alarms. A few cars parked below the building had also caught fire.'
Office staff and businesses in the area had to make their way through long traffic snarls in the entire JLT area in the morning.
In a show of solidarity and support, several companies in Dubai have offered to help the fire victims.
Shuja Qadir, the owner of Shaikh and Shake, a newly-opened restaurant in JLT has offered free tea, coffee and internet for the victims.
'We are neighbours to these people. People from the Tamweel Building can come and have free tea and coffee at our outlet. They can also charge their mobile phones and laptops and make use of the Wifi facilities for free.'
Another company, Pets in the City is providing daycare shelter to pets displaced by the fire in the Tamweel Tower. A store manager confirmed to Khaleej Times, the company was providing care for the pets. ­
Details about what caused the fire were immediately not clear as police officials are still investigating the cause of the fire. -muaz@khaleejtimes.com