Quick-thinking building staff contain Dubai Marina apartment block fire

A blaze at a Dubai Marina fire on Monday afternoon was contained by quick-thinking cleaners.

DUBAI // Quick-acting building staff helped to contain a fire on the balcony of a fourth-floor apartment in Dubai Marina before civil defence arrived at the scene this afternoon.

The alarm was sounded at DEC Tower after a building cleaner noticed smoke coming from the apartment.

"We could see the balcony on fire from below the building," said Jacob Ray, facility engineer at the tower. He said they called the authorities but decided to take action themselves: "Our cleaners rushed to the apartment to put it out."

Hassan Shujat, assistant to the manager at DEC Tower, added: "We had to prevent the fire from spreading to other apartments or causing further damage."

The fire was contained to the balcony off the living room of the apartment, and was fully extinguished in half an hour by the Civil Defence team.

The resident of the apartment arrived after the fire was put out.

Other residents of the tower were evacuated while officials inspected the damage. They were allowed to return to their apartments by 1:30pm.

Hazza Hassan Hammadi, a Civil Defence official who responded to the fire, said no one was hurt in the incident.

"We do not know the cause yet; this will require further investigation," he added.