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Dubai has suffered three major fires in two weeks, so a number of issues must be urgently addressed. With the onset of summer, it is reasonable to expect more fires, as in previous years, when old or faulty air-conditioning units fail and become fire hazards. This happens most in homes where units run all day, even in the absence of the occupant, which increases the risk of greater conflagrations because no one is there to extinguish the fire.
What was demonstrated with the fires in Al Quoz and Naif Road were inadequacies. Although official reports are still awaited, it seems there was insufficient fire detection and firefighting equipment which allowed the fires to take sufficient hold on the premises to become major tasks to fight. Yet it has been recognised for many years that smoke detectors and sprinkler systems go a long way to assist in averting major fires.
Apparently, most of the premises affected by the fires were either uninsured or inadequately so, rendering great losses to property owners and tenants. Additionally, it is believed that in many cases the insurers themselves were not aware of the insured's fire protection or even what items, flammable or otherwise, were stored. It raises the question as to what were they insuring - or why.
With the police's decision to block access roads to the main retail sectors around Naif Road, and most roads into Al Quoz - a leading industrial and business centre, it is reasonable to ask if there are better ways of handling the fire or, indeed, diverting the traffic.
The police, the fire department, the civil defence, property owners and tenants all have a responsibility to the public to ensure that occupied areas are adequately protected and insured: The building, the stock, loss of business (consequential loss) and, most importantly, loss of life or injury.
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