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The Torch (famous skyscraper in Dubai) is on fire

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The exterior wall of any high rise is not actually connected to the floors of a building. As all buildings are designed to move, connecting the exterior with anything but limited bracing would cause mass amounts of glass to shatter. Depending on the height of the building there will literally be a 1" to 4" gap between the floor and the exterior wall which is then filled with a fire proof compound flexible compound which is suppose to last two hours when exposed to flame before failing.

Then cement that composes the floor obviously is fire proof so this fire is spreading up that gap.



If you really want to stoke your fears, consider that at these heights and from what I understand of Dubai fire code, the fire fighters which are in the building likely have no central command and control communications. (Two Way radios do not work very well in high-rises).
thanks for the info. so basically they cut corners? is that kind of vertical fire spread more or less impossible otherwise?
 

Gallbaro

Banned
if this building was in the states, these jokes about the tower's name would probably be bannable :)

But would anyone in the states be dumb enough to name a building the torch? Granted we have plenty of stupid names.

thanks for the info. so basically they cut corners? is that kind of vertical fire spread more or less impossible otherwise?

If it was proper fire proofing you would need a more potent fuel source than one commonly found in buildings to overcome the fire stopping in such a quick time across multiple floors and utility lines, such as gas, do not run up curtain walls.

The concern in high rise fires is smoke inhalation more than actual flame, which is why incident commanders will run into a building to get to a detailed control board for HVAC system of a building.
 

yazanov

Banned
Sandstorm here in Dubai which makes it a tough condition for fire fighting. Also fire broke out at around 2:00 am when people sleeping.

Also for uae news, use this site http://gulfnews.com/ (best local news website imo)
 

GHG

Member
i cant even imagine how many migrant slaveworkers they've thrown into that building to fight this fire

Uh oh, looks like it is rising up in the gap between the curtain wall and deck. Looks like a contractor directed his slaves to use caulk instead of fire stopping and neglected to put in window sprinklers.

Seriously...

People could have seriously got hurt and this is all you can say?

Never mind the fact that most companies that employ these "slaves", as you so tactfully put it, are actually multinational American and European corporations.

Get a clue you insensitive bastards.

And here I thought modern buildings, especially state if the art skyscrapers have a pretty good fire prevention coverage. What the hell...

The high winds we are experiencing here at the moment along with higher temperatures than usual for this time of year would have contributed to the fire spreading quickly. The building is also pretty much on the sea front so it's even more exposed to the high winds than any inland buildings would be.
 
The high winds we are experiencing here at the moment along with higher temperatures than usual for this time of year would have contributed to the fire spreading quickly. The building is also pretty much on the sea front so it's even more exposed to the high winds than any inland buildings would be.

Why wasn't this taken into account during construction? I imagine these are ultra-luxury pads to boot too.
 
Jesus at the jokes in here. Some posters are being fucking idiots. "thread about Dubai? Quick, I need to be the first to make a slave, Muslim or terrorist joke!"

The sand storm is really bad outside right now and it is totally grey outside. Visibility is awful. The strong winds wouldn't have helped either.

That area is really densely populated so I hope no one was hurt.
 
A massive fire has ripped through one of the world's tallest residential buildings in Dubai.

The inferno has taken hold at the 1,105ft tall Marina Torch building.

The blaze is said to have started on the 50th floor, witnesses say.

The building has been evacuated and there are no reports of any casualties so far.

From GN:

Thousands of people evacuated; fire coming under control, but flares whenever the wind blows

Dubai: A massive fire has broken out in the Torch tower at Dubai marina. The blaze started on the 50th floor, a resident said. The Marina Torch is a residential skyscraper at the Dubai Marina. The tower is one of the tallest residential building in the world. The tower reaches 336.1 m (1105 ft) in height with 79 floors above ground.

Fire coming under control, but flares whenever the wind blows.

The fire has started up again currently around floor 70 and above. High winds causing massive problems.

Fire has reached 70th floor, says Digby Taylor, head of operations at GN Broadcasting.

Debris falling from great height. Roads in Marina north all closed, debris on tram tracks.

Lights have gone out on the seaboard side of the building.

It's like the titanic going down, says a witness.

The biggest danger is molten glass falling, says a witness.

Considering the scene people are calm. Police officer reports no casualties so far.

Thousands of people have been evacuated and the fire is getting worse, according to witnesses. Chunks of masonry on fire are falling. The fire seems to have started near level 51. High winds are causing the fire to spread rapidly, says a witness.
 

Gallbaro

Banned
Off-Topic: Amazing how expats personally benefiting from Dubai can whitewash over the slave economy they benefit from.
 

Platy

Member
Went to wikipedia to know more about the building (it is called THE MARINA torch) and the wikipedia article ALREADY has a part about the fire. The world is strange
 

GHG

Member
Off-Topic: Amazing how expats personally benefiting from Dubai can whitewash over the slave economy they benefit from.

You seem bitter. Also misinformed.

There's probably a slave economy right in the very country you reside in as well.

Why don't you go screaming from your lungs to solve that problem before concerning yourself with what other country's are doing?
 
You seem bitter. Also misinformed.

There's probably a slave economy right in the very country you reside in as well.

Why don't you go screaming from your lungs to solve that problem before concerning yourself with what other country's are doing?
Same as every Damn Dubai thread man. They haven't seen the changes in the construction worker accommodation or anything and regurgitate the same comments in every thread regardless of context.

I still think people would be surprised if they came here and notice how similar every day life is to other major cities. Except, a lot safer.
 

GHG

Member
Same as every Damn Dubai thread man. They haven't seen the changes in the construction worker accommodation or anything and regurgitate the same comments in every thread regardless of context.

I still think people would be surprised if they came here and notice how similar every day life is to other major cities. Except, a lot safer.

Hypocrites, it's how they work. And of all threads to bring it up in as well when peoples lives were at risk.

I'll just leave graphs from an ILO report in 2014 here:

wcms_243669.gif


wcms_243671.gif


So if anybody wants to talk about "slavery" in Dubai, you are more than welcome to. I'd just like to know what exactly you think is going on here, how it works and who you think is at fault? Don't hold back, let it all out.

I've got all the time in the world today, there are sandstorms outside plus I'm sure I'll need some distractions while playing through the order today considering how bad everybody has told me it is.
 
Was supposed to go outside and play basketball today but man yeah, the weather looks dog shit awful! The drive to work tomorrow is going to be insane!

Btw no point posting that shit. They won't read it or care. They will be back in the next thread.
 

Zanosuke

Member
Random comment on an local news site so take it with a grain of salt, but scary if true:

"The thing is me and my friend were the first two people whom realised building is on fire and we called the 999 at 1:50 am and ran into our floor (30th) and ranged on neighbors doors and bells and told them that building is on fire but still the fire alarm was not turned on! so we ran to the exit stairs and while we reached the 20th floor the alarm was still not turned on so I personally turned on the alarm manually by breaking the alarm button! it was then that for the first time the alarm turned on and people started coming out of their flats ! Atabak, Dubai, United Arab Emirates"

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/e...upts-at-torch-tower-in-dubai-marina-1.1460107
 

Suikoguy

I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
Random comment on an local news site so take it with a grain of salt, but scary if true:

"The thing is me and my friend were the first two people whom realised building is on fire and we called the 999 at 1:50 am and ran into our floor (30th) and ranged on neighbors doors and bells and told them that building is on fire but still the fire alarm was not turned on! so we ran to the exit stairs and while we reached the 20th floor the alarm was still not turned on so I personally turned on the alarm manually by breaking the alarm button! it was then that for the first time the alarm turned on and people started coming out of their flats ! Atabak, Dubai, United Arab Emirates"

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/e...upts-at-torch-tower-in-dubai-marina-1.1460107

Unsurprising considering the reports of false alarms. At least the system remained in operation even among the constant false alarms.
 

DBT85

Member
Hopefully nobody gets hurt, residents, security or those fighting the fire.

The shitposting isn't needed in here in my opinion.
 

Buzzman

Banned
Phat Michael said:
Jesus at the jokes in here. Some posters are being fucking idiots. "thread about Dubai? Quick, I need to be the first to make a slave, Muslim or terrorist joke!"

GHG said:
Hypocrites, it's how they work. And of all threads to bring it up in as well when peoples lives were at risk.

Yeah come on guys, don't joke about workers dying in skyscraper fires, that would just be tasteless.

But since I live on the planet Earth and have in some way benefitted from slave labour I can never speak out against it anywhere.
 

Myansie

Member
Hypocrites, it's how they work. And of all threads to bring it up in as well when peoples lives were at risk.

I'll just leave graphs from an ILO report in 2014 here:

wcms_243669.gif


wcms_243671.gif


So if anybody wants to talk about "slavery" in Dubai, you are more than welcome to. I'd just like to know what exactly you think is going on here, how it works and who you think is at fault? Don't hold back, let it all out.

I've got all the time in the world today, there are sandstorms outside plus I'm sure I'll need some distractions while playing through the order today considering how bad everybody has told me it is.

Those are absolute values in your graphs. It would mean more if it was relative to GDP to make a fair comparison. The first graph lumps the entire first world together. Does that include Russia? The relative GDP vs the Middle East would be off the page. It's also lumped the middle east together. Qatar for example has definitely been doing dodgie shit in the lead up to the soccer world cup. Not to mention Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Your lumping the Saudi's in with a bunch of super dodgie countries. That first graph doesn't tell me anything.

The second graph tells me the Middle East is bad, but not terrible, at extorting labour. Yah capitalism!

I'm probably coming off as passive aggressive, but I am interested to see if you're right. Just not enough to research it, but apparently you are...
 
Local news report there states that the fire started in a higher levels and the dusty windy situation made it very difficult, but the Dubai Civil defense was able to put it down in a span of two hours with no casualties.

The civil defense are mostly Emarati nationals.
 
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