Sharjah: Real estate managers and landlords have taken up the responsibility of educating tenants on how to avoid fires in the aftermath of last week's blaze that gutted a 25-storey tower in Al Taawun.
In buildings within proximity of the affected Al Baker Tower 4, real estate companies have posted warning signs near elevators, advising tenants not to use balconies for cooking and grilling food items to avoid causing a fire. Other posters say: "Tenants should keep corridors and building exits clear for any incident that might arise from a fire."
Such initiatives by building owners provide little hope for the 125 families who lost their homes in the blaze that broke out on January 24. Alaam Kayal, who lived in apartment no 1403 with his wife, was able to find another unit down the road, but is still worried about the lack of safety precautions in buildings.
Sprinklers didn't work
"The last building had a fire alarm and water sprinklers, but they did not work. We cannot know for sure how safe a building can be. It should be the responsibility of the Civil Defence to work quickly in putting out the fire. The damage [in Al Baker Tower] would not have happened if they had doused the fire when it was still on the first five floors," Kayal said.
Other residents who collected their belongings yesterday agreed that no amount of precautionary measures could prevent a fire from breaking out in residential buildings.
"Fires happen because of accidents, and nobody ever plans to start a fire. Tenants should know not to throw lit cigarettes out of the window and not have barbecues on balconies, but the fire alarm system should work. If it did, the sprinklers would have gone off and this could have been prevented," a resident, who declined to be named, said.
Civil Defence authorities in Sharjah are also educating tenants on the dos and don'ts of home safety.
A televised debate was aired recently on Sharjah TV, where Brig Gen Abdullah Saeed Al Suwaidi, Director General of Sharjah Civil Defence Department, explained that such fires are often caused by negligence and lack of awareness among residents.
Cause unknown
The exact cause of the blaze in Al Baker Tower remains unknown as the Forensic Laboratory of the Sharjah Police continues the investigation.
"All buildings in Sharjah adhere to Civil Defence safety codes. From our part, Sharjah Civil Defence and the Ministry of Interior conduct awareness campaigns throughout the year," Brig Gen Al Suwaidi said.
He emphasised that the safety code currently used by the Civil Defence is a hybrid version of standards used in the United Kingdom, United States and Singapore, and the service has an emergency response time of six to eight minutes, which is within international standards.
"Accidents can happen due to several reasons, such as leaving children unattended, using balconies as a storage space, and a general lack of mindfulness among some families," he added.
In order to curb such incidents, the Sharjah Civil Defence and Directorate of Town Planning and Survey are set to jointly examine building materials that developers currently use after a Civil Defence official pointed out that combustible materials are often used in constructing residential buildings.
