Lessons should be learnt from the Dubai fire

There are lessons to be learnt from the New Year's Eve fire in Dubai, writes Peter Hellyer

When fire broke out at The Address in Downtown Dubai on New Year’s Eve, the whole world could see the professional and efficient way in which the authorities and ordinary people dealt with the disaster. Sunday Alamba / AP Photo
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Last Thursday, as 2015 was drawing gently to a close, I was standing at a hotel window overlooking a snow-carpeted Istanbul when I received a telephone call from my Dubai-resident daughter.

“Dad,” she said, “you might see on the news that there's a fire at The Address in Downtown Dubai. I'm there, but I've got out of the hotel safely and I'm going home.”

I hadn't been following the news and hadn't been worried, but I was rather relieved to hear that she was in no danger. Switching on the TV and checking social media, I, like millions of others around the world, was shocked by the pictures of the towering inferno that the hotel had become. Those, surely, will be among the memorable images of the year that has just begun, as will those of the stunning midnight fireworks display with The Address blazing in the background.

There's been some criticism, particularly on social media, of the decision by the Dubai authorities to go ahead with the fireworks. That, though, seems misplaced to me.

There was no valid reason on safety grounds for cancelling the display which, in any case, represented a good example of the Dubai spirit of carrying on regardless, despite adversity.

The rapid response of Dubai's firefighters also offered a good example of the city's capacity to deal with an emergency, even if, as it transpired, there was little or nothing that could be done to halt the progress of the flames. Remarkably, there were no serious injuries and only a very few minor ones, an outcome for which all can be thankful.

The owners of The Address have said that they plan to make the necessary repairs. Although that will take time, it may well be feasible, given that most of the damage appears to have been caused by the rapid burning of the exterior cladding rather than to the main structure itself.

It's eminently reasonable, though, to be concerned about the possible impact of future fires in the skyscraper cities of the Emirates.

The cladding of The Address, so we are told – and as we have seen – was highly flammable. It was of a type that was regularly approved for use until two or three years ago. Dozens of UAE skyscrapers, perhaps more, may be clad in the same material. How is it that it wasn't banned much earlier, if its flammable properties were widely known? In the event of any future blaze, it must at least be possible that casualties could be substantially higher.

There are, I am sure, many lessons that can be learnt from this incident. Fire and safety precautions in all high-rise buildings whose external cladding is of the same material will need to be stringently assessed and revised. That's a huge task not just for building owners and operators but also for the civil defence authorities. And while it's far too early to jump to any conclusions – in advance of the results of a rigorous investigation – will it be necessary, for some buildings at least, to remove the existing cladding and install a fire-resistant alternative? That could well prove to be an expensive and time-consuming task, one in which it's crucially important that no corners are cut. Municipal building inspectors, too, will need to ensure that the ban on the material isn't being broken by some unscrupulous contractors. If there are stocks of it still around, perhaps they should be destroyed.

All of us – especially those who were in The Address at the time that the fire broke out – can breathe a sigh of relief that there was no disaster in terms of human casualties, even if there were considerable financial losses. Now, though, is the time for lessons to be learnt.

Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture