The Torch blaze: statement from building management

The Torch’s building management company, Kingfield Owner Association Management Services, has released a statement in relation to the tower fire on February 21.

Authorities are still determining the cause of the fire at The Torch. Warren Little / Getty Images

DUBAI // Kingfield Owner Association Management Services, the building management company for The Torch released a fresh statement on Tuesday in regards to the tower fire in Dubai Marina on February 21.

Here is the statement in full sent to The National by email:

● Dubai Civil Defense has deemed that all apartments not directly affected by the fire are habitable.

● The structure of the building has not been affected as most of the damage was sustained and contained in the balcony areas. It appears that most of the damage was limited to the exterior cladding, and that fire damage is far less than expected initially.

● The Loss Adjuster and Oman Insurance have already begun with the inspection of affected apartments.

● Residents of affected units have been advised and assisted where possible to book into either Media One Hotel or Gloria Hotel. Some residents have made their own arrangements. This facility is part of the insurance cover being provided by Oman Insurance.

● There are currently 2 low zone and 2 high zone lifts working. All lifts are manually operated while KONE is on site to bring all lifts back under normal operation.

● Meetings are ongoing with Dubai Police, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Civil Defense, RTA and Dubai Tram to discuss the removal of loose debris on the building façade affected by the fire.

● The rope access team will be onsite to start removing the remaining debris from the building façade. This process will start as soon as all required permissions have been obtained from the relevant local authorities. To ensure the safety of all pedestrians and residents during this process, the access roads directly outside the building will be closed in conjunction with Dubai Police.

To clarify some inconsistencies being reported please note the following information:

● The building has a fully addressable fire alarm system and residents cannot manually disable fire alarms

to prevent them from going off. If a resident removes a smoke detector in his/her apartment the system identifies the concerned device and alerts the main fire alarm panel as a fault so as maintenance can investigate. This is standard in a modern Fire Alarm System.

● The fire alarm was fully functional and operating correctly at the time of the fire. Break glasses are located on every floor and operate to compliment the sensors in the building and provide residents the opportunity to manually activate the system and alert all residents at any time.

● The Torch consists of 676 residential apartments and 6 retail units. The system (and all life safety systems) is maintained on a regular schedule by a specialist licensed contractors. All units have 24hrs fire monitoring sensors (smoke & heat detectors) connected to central fire alarm panel. Sensors in kitchens commonly alarm due to cooking habits of residents however these actual activations are commonly referred to as “False Alarms” by residents as they are quickly investigated and verified by building management without the need to evacuate the building. These activations are reset and the system is restored to normal operation. There is no middle ground on life safety and the system is designed to activate when environmental parameters exceed pre-determined set points.

● The Torch Tower was built strictly to code and all approvals from relevant authorities were obtained prior to the completion certificate being issued by the authorities.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. This will be addressed by the Dubai Civil Defense.