Tenants evacuated in early morning fire at Dubai apartment block

No injuries reported after Dubai Civil Defence teams battle blaze for two hours

The building fire in Dubai's Al Barsha area was contained shortly before 6am on Tuesday. Photo: Dubai Civil Defence.

Residents of an apartment block in Dubai's Al Barsha district were evacuated after a fire broke out in the early hours of Tuesday.

Dubai Civil Defence teams arrived at 3.53am to tackle the blaze, which sent plumes of smoke into the sky. The fire, in Al Barsha 1 neighbourhood, was contained at 5.54am. No injuries were reported.

Police and ambulances were also sent to the scene, while the street surrounding the block was temporarily cordoned off by authorities.

“The blaze was in the back part of the building,” Dubai Civil Defence told The National. “The cooling process lasted until 7.22am.”

Pictures released by the authority showed fire damage to several floors of the building. An investigation is under way to determine the cause.

Civil Defence teams responded to 2,473 fires last year, down from 3,000 in 2022, the Ministry of Interior said. Most were in residential areas, with homes accounting for 1,636 of blazes, up from the 1,385 in the previous year.