Nine killed and 89 injured in more than 2,000 UAE building fires last year

Fire chief urges the public to follow safety measures after increase in blazes in homes

Fire crews extinguish a tower block blaze in Sharjah. The National

Nine people died and 89 were injured in more than 2,000 building fires in the UAE last year, official figures show.

Data released by the Ministry of Interior revealed 18 of those injured were firefighters.

The number of blazes in residential buildings, including villas and apartment blocks, increased by 8.4 per cent from the previous year.

The ministry said 2,090 building fires were recorded last year, up from 1,968 in 2020.

Fire crews battle tower blaze - in pictures

Fire broke out at a residential building in the Al Barsha area of Dubai on Friday. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National

Residents reported seeing smoke in an area near Barsha 1.

Dubai Civil Defence sent fire crews to the scene.

Residents of Al Salam Tower and nearby buildings were evacuated.

A crane was used to assist firefighters in extinguishing the flames.

Dubai Civil Defence personnel try to quell the fire.

People watch from the streets nearby.

A section of the high-rise was gutted.

No casualties were reported.

A Dubai Police helicopter circles the area.

The cause of the fire had not been established by Friday afternoon.

Emergency services brought the blaze under control 'within 14 minutes'.

The number of fires in residential properties rose from 1,277 in 2020 to 1,385 last year.

The increase prompted a fire chief in Sharjah to call on the public to follow safety rules.

“One of the most important causes of fires that occur in homes and apartments is failing to follow prevention and safety requirements,” said Col Sami Al Naqbi, director general of Sharjah Civil Defence.

He urged people to ensure electrical appliances were working properly, cable connections in working order and that power supplies were not overloaded.

He said this was particularly important in the hot summer months, when air conditioners were used more frequently.

“All these can cause short circuits that lead to causing fires,” he said.

He also urged the public to properly store gas cylinders and ensure regulators and pipes were intact and not too close to a heat source.

Improper use of flammable materials can also be a fire risk, he said.

“Statistics revealed that smoking inside bedrooms, using incense burners inside wardrobes and poorly stored flammable materials are other main causes of fire outbreaks in homes,” he said.

He urged residents and citizens to ensure they have functioning fire extinguishers at home.

Crews were called to a variety of building blazes during the year, including at shops, farms, health centres, shopping centres, hotels, restaurants and warehouses.

Figures show that 775 fire incidents were reported in Abu Dhabi, followed by 364 in Dubai.

Another 304 were reported in Ajman, 293 in Sharjah, 149 in Fujairah, 145 in Ras Al Khaimah and 60 in Umm Al Quwain.

Nearly 44 per cent were registered as minor incidents. Major fires comprised only 1.2 per cent of all fire incidents.

“A quick response is significant because fires spread quickly, therefore we worked on reducing our response time from 5.1 minutes in 2020 to 4.86 minutes in 2021,” Col Al Naqbi said.

Harnessing technology to fight fires

Since it entered service with Sharjah Police in 2020, the M300 drone has helped in several drug busts, detected traffic violations, various criminal offences and found missing people. All photos: Salam Al Amir

A fully equipped mobile operations room was launched in August 2017 by Sharjah Police to assist officers in raids or incidents that require emergency response.

Officers in Sharjah can use this gun to shut down any unauthorised drone spotted around important locations in the emirate.

Mavic Enterprise joined Sharjah Police in 2019 and in 2020 helped save the lives of three people who were trapped in a tower after a fire broke out in the building.

The Matrice 600 drone requires two people to operate, with one to fly it and the other to shoot its gun.

Dubai Civil Defence was this month given approval to use drones to fight high-rise fires in the emirate.

The move from the General Civil Aviation Authority allows the use of drones for backup and support operations, state news agency Wam reported.

It will help Civil Defence to tackle fires in hard-to-reach places, such as high-rise buildings, confined spaces and warehouses storing hazardous material.

Sharjah Police regularly use drones to ensure a quick response to fires.

Mavic 2, one of the force's high-tech aerial fleet, was sent in to find tenants inside the 48-storey Abbco Tower after it was engulfed by a fire in 2020.

“Being a time-sensitive matter, the device was deployed to locate any tenants who were not able to make it out of the tower,” said Capt Omran Al Matrooshi, head of the drone unit at Sharjah Police.

“It was able to find all three people, who were taken out to safety."