A second inferno in two years at The Torch Tower in Dubai has put the spotlight on other skyscrapers, where there have also been cladding fires previously.
The second cladding blaze at The Torch Tower in Dubai took place in the early hours of 4 August. It is not clear what caused the fire in the 79-storey skyscraper. The blaze, which erupted on the 26th floor, tore through 64 storeys, according to Dubai Civil Defence. The latest fire affected a corner of the building, different from that in the previous fire. There are no reported deaths or injuries. Several cars parked near the Torch Tower were badly damaged as a result of the fire.
It turned out that refurbishment of the claddings at The Torch following the February 2015 fire had yet to be carried out. The fire on 4 August erupted just weeks after authorities finally approved repairs to damages from the first fire, reported The National. An internal memo to residents from Kingfield Owner Association Management Services, which is the building management company for The Torch, announced that the Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) had signed off on plans for the exterior repairs from the first fire.
“After a very intense period going back and forth with Dubai Civil Defence, I am very pleased to announce that we have now received written confirmation from DCD for the approval to go ahead with the exterior repairs on the building and replace the fire damaged panels as per the fire safety specialists report,” according to the message sent to residents on 16 June.
“This signed and stamped document has already been sent to the insurance company for processing and also been given to the contractors so they can make their approval processes for procurement of the exterior cladding panels with the aluminium manufacturer. Once we get confirmation on the updated completion timeline we will inform all owners and residents accordingly.”
Residents were also told by management that the repairs were expected to take six to seven months to complete.
Dubai has had a spate of major cladding fires over the last five years, most notably at the Address Downtown Dubai hotel on New Year’s Eve in 2015.
While an updated fire code has been introduced to ensure that new buildings are covered with panels that do not easily catch fire, there are hundreds of buildings across the emirate that remain covered with panels that contain highly flammable plastic material.
Cladding experts contacted by Arab News estimate the cost of replacing panels to be between US$120 and $140 per square metre on most buildings. The costs would balloon on a super-tall building such as The Torch Tower, one of the world’s tallest residential buildings, because of the specialist access equipment required. M