No fire deaths in Dubai last year
The Dubai Civil Defence has reported zero deaths in 2016’s various fire incidents, thanks to the smart firefighting efforts employed by them. These included early warning and response systems and smart firefighting programmes and equipment, among the latest in the world.
The Dubai force is taking the principle of “prevention is better than fire control” and this summer, Dubai has looked to be safer and possibly achieving zero fire-related deaths, with response at record speed to save lives and property.
The emirate has implemented first-of-its-kind fire-fighting systems in the world, including smart interconnections between facilities and the Civil Defence operations room. It also launched the first SOS application in the world and has applied nanotechnology in selfextinguishing and prevention of electrical wiring residential fires.
These principles have led the Dubai Civil Defence to end what are called the phenomenon of “summer fires.”
Brigadier General Jamal bin Aased Al Muhairi, Assistant Director General of the Dubai Civil Defence for Protection and Safety Affairs, said that besides the latest fire prevention and protection systems in the world, international delegations have even asked to see Dubai’s fire-fighting procedures and past experiences, after its success in controlling huge fires without loss of life. The emirate has obligated all industrial and commercial establishments, buildings and shops to be linked to the smart management system, through a smart data plate directly connected to the Civil Defence operations room. This enabled control teams to extinguish fires before the owners even knew of their breakout, thus preventing deaths and loss of property. The smart systems also link these buildings to a database with all information on the facility or site, such as number of floors, emergency entrances and exits.
24x7 smart systems
Al Muhairi pointed out that 24x7 smart systems in all public and private buildings and institutions have to be installed as per the law. Mandatory for all buildings and facilities, it is available optionally for homes. The system provides the Civil Defence with advanced data on the best route to the building, adjacent buildings and hazardous materials, the nearest source of water etc. The launch of the Dubai Safety Data Sheet, which includes the world’s largest database, enables Civil Defence decision makers, building owners and occupants to learn about safety in buildings in real time, Al Muhairi noted.
Citing a recent example of a fire brought under control in a shopping mall, he said: “The security guards were surprised when they saw the fire engines — they did not even know that a fire had erupted in the mall.”