Clarity on fire risks in towers is necessary

Owners and renters deserve to know if their high-rises are susceptible to panel fires

The Address Downtown Dubai hotel after the New Year's Eve fire. (Razan Alzayani / Bloomberg)

With the release of the original US fire tests on the aluminium composite panels on The Address Downtown Dubai hotel, there is now confirmation of what was already suspected: they were not assessed for susceptibility to the kind of fire that raced up the tower on New Year’s Eve.

As we reported yesterday, the panels were tested in 2007 for fire containment rather than flammability. Since then, regulations have been brought in requiring all new towers in Dubai to be built using panels that would have prevented a fire igniting the cladding above it, as apparently happened at The Address Hotel.

Civil Defence has begun a comprehensive assessment of what caused the fire and the factors that allowed it to escalate to the point where much of one face of the building was seriously damaged. Indeed, it was only the timely intervention of the authorities, overseen by Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, that contained and controlled the fire.

We look forward to the timely release of Civil Defence’s full report into the December 31 fire and its recommendations on how to avert it happening elsewhere. Its findings will be of particular interest to those who own or rent apartments in similar high-rise towers who may be worried about a similar conflagration.

The long-term issue of prevention has to be key. Tests on towers of equal vintage will show if they are similarly susceptible and what remedial action needs to be taken. If it is found to be commonplace, this would be the perfect time for Dubai’s reputation for finding innovative solutions to come to the fore, with affordable but practical initiatives such as enhanced external sprinkler systems rather than having to reclad entire towers.

It is comforting to know that safety standards for composite panels were already reassessed before The Address Downtown Dubai fire and that towers built recently are not susceptible. If older buildings are found to be suspect, insurance premiums alone will provide powerful financial incentives for owners to initiate remedial action. After several similar fires in recent years, owners and residents deserve to know just how susceptible the high-rise towers are to this kind of blaze and to ensure they are made safe.