Dubai hotel fire: Inferno at 63-storey Address Downtown hotel near New Year's Eve fireworks display.
How is a flammable product like this ever allowed to be used in construction? Particularly on a 1106 ft tall building, when firefighters cant get above 100 ft. They're lucky the whole building did not collapse.
We often complain about government intervention and big brother tactics, but we do have better building codes. Anything used in construction here must comply with fire codes. Sounds like they are far behind over there.
The only thing that will get them to remove the flammable materials and improve their fire safety is money. Until their revenues drop because of lost bookings they will do nothing. "They" may be the hotel owners or maybe "they" are the local politicians. Either way, the driving force is money.
Dubai has more money than brains. They have limited, codes, rules and laws in all areas. It is the most polluted region in the world. I would never visit that place.
Which appears to be because the interior sprinkler system stopped the spread of the fire into the interior of the building. Otherwise we may have seen something similar to the collapse of the World Trade Center on
9/11. One of the WTC buildings that collapsed was taller than this Dubai building. A quick google search show the tallest WTC building at 1362 ft. This Dubai building is 1106 ft.
Personally, I have never seen why they make buildings that tall anyhow? If not a fire or explosion, an earthquake will eventually bring them down, and how many people will die, and other buildings destroyed in the process.
I wonder how much damage was done to the steel structure? Can they repair it, or must it be demolished now?
Sprinker systems come with a couple myths, this gives me a moment to adress.
1) Myth: If we have a little fire in one room, the sprinklers will flood the whole building. We are better off to just let the FD put it out. Truth: Each sprinkler head has its own fusible element. Only puts water where it's hot. The fusible element is typically 165 degrees F.
2) Myth: Sprinklers (since they require a person to close the main valve to turn them off) do more damage than a fire hose which has a person at the nozzle. Truth: Even the most professional department only arrives at the fire after they are called. This can be employee, night watchman or alarm system. But there is always a delay after the fire starts, and when the FD drives to the scene, connects to the hydrant, stretches hose. In this time, the fire spreads and causes more damage. Which requires more water to be used. Sprinklers operate early, and actually do less damage. They can also be wired into the building alarm, so the FD and building owners can be called.
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