5% of fires in Dubai this year set deliberately: Expert

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5% of fires in Dubai this year set deliberately: Expert

Dubai - Vehicles going up in flames represented about "30 to 40 per cent" of these fires.

by

Amira Agarib

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Published: Wed 15 Aug 2018, 2:04 PM

Last updated: Wed 15 Aug 2018, 5:04 PM

About five per cent of the total number of fires reported in the first six months of the year in Dubai were set deliberately, a forensic expert from the Dubai Police has said. This includes a fire in a parking lot outside the Dubai Outlet Mall that gutted 11 cars. An Asian suspect, who allegedly set one of the cars on fire after he had a heated argument with its driver, was arrested later.
In another incident, a fight broke out between two persons at a cafe in the International City. On the same day, one of them went to the other's house and set it on fire.
About 319 fire incidents were reported in the first half of the year, Mohammed Al Qassem, an expert at the department of criminal and mechanical engineering at the police's general department of criminal evidence and criminology, said.
Vehicles going up in flames represented about "30 to 40 per cent" of these fires. The expert blamed illegal vehicle modifications for most of the cases.
"Technical modifications in vehicles, which do not suit the power of the engine, are to blame for most of the incidents. In many instances, these modifications were made by unauthorised personnel. Fixing unsuitable lights was another reason," Al Qassem said.
Faulty electric connections
The expert said the majority of fires reported at warehouses in Dubai occurred due to faulty electric connections. These led to short circuits, which ignited the fires.
Al Qassem warned of electric shock incidents, referring to a fatal accident that took place in a ship stationed at the Port Rashid. The ship was under maintenance when a worker tried to light a lamp inside it. "He held the lamp with a wire and a part of it was exposed, which led to the fatal accident."
Engineering accidents
Al Qassem said the department analyses and investigates engineering accidents reported in Dubai. These include cases of people falling off buildings or wall collapses. 
He referred to an incident that took place two weeks ago. "Two Asian workers fell as they were cleaning the facade of a building. Our investigation shows that there was a technical fault in installing the lift that took them to the top of the building. This led to the fall."
Residential building fires
Another expert, Mohammed Bouaytaa, talked about explosions in residential buildings due to faulty gas connections. He referred to a fire in an apartment that was caused by this.
"Aluminium facades are still causing fires to spread in buildings. There was a fire that broke out in a balcony of a building in Al Barsha. It spread quickly to the rest of the building due to the faulty facade."
He called on building owners to invest in non-flammable facades for their properties.
amira@khaleejtimes.com


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