UAE | Emergencies
Relief teams provide support to 125 families hit by blaze
Focus shifts to rehabilitation of tenants after Sharjah building fire
- By Derek Baldwin and Mariam M. Al Serkal, Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 January 26, 2012
- Image Credit: Mahdi Shirazi/Gulf News reader and Javed Nawab/Gulf News
- Left: Flames engulf Al Baker Tower 4 in Sharjah’s Al Taawun area in the early hours on Wednesday.
Right: The burnt facade of the building. Some expatriate families have lost their life savings in the fire.
Sharjah: Aid workers swung into action on Wednesday to help clothe, feed and house 125 families left homeless after fire ravaged a 25-storey residential high-rise early on Wednesday.
Civil Defence teams from Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain responded to a 2:15 am distress call at Al Baker Tower 4 as flames rose high into the night sky over Al Taawun area until around 5.15 am.
At the scene of the blaze, Saleh Al Shuwaihi, manager of emergency aid for Sharjah Charity, told Gulf News yesterday that more than two dozen volunteers assisted victims and have logged names to follow up cases.
"We're helping them find flats for one or two days and we're giving them financial assistance ranging from Dh1,000 to Dh2,000 depending on the size of the family," he said.
Coordinated response
Sharjah Club and the UAE Red Crescent were also on site to provide a coordinated response for homeless tenants. The gutted two-year-old building they used to call home is owned by a Qatari businessman.
Exhausted victims were grateful no one died in the blaze, especially given many accounts at the scene yesterday that there were no fire alarm alerts and that the building had no water sprinklers.
Ahmad Yacoub, 37, said he is planning to file a formal complaint with authorities after the blaze caused as much as Dh60,000 in damage to his flat — 1505. "We have to buy everything, all of our furniture and clothing is gone," he told Gulf News at the scene.
Sleepy-eyed Ifeanyi Dove fled flat No 805 clutching his infant son in his arms while explosions rocked the building. "I am homeless and I lost everything, except for this dishdasha that I am wearing," said Dove whose wife was travelling at the time of the fire. "I lost my life's savings."
Brigadier General Abdullah Saeed Al Suwaidi, director-general of Civil Defence in Sharjah, said: "The weather and wind speed were factors that caused the fire to spread quickly to the other floors in the building, as well as the materials used in the building's exterior that were flammable."
Derek Baldwin is a chief reporter and Mariam M. Al Serkal is a staff reporter of Gulf News
Timeline: Major Fires in Sharjah
25 January 2012
A fire broke out in a residential building near Al Tawun Mall in Sharjah.
30 November 2011
Several shops were gutted when fire erupted at the Al Ghuwair market in the Rolla area, Sharjah.
08 November 2011
A massive fire broke out at a high-rise residential tower in Al Nahda area in Shrajah that left 6 people injured.
01 November 2011
A fire broke out at several warehouses at Sharjah Airport International Free Zone.
06 June 2011
A think blanket of black smoke engulf the skies of Sharjah after fire ravaged five warehouses.
21 May 2011
More than 10 shops and 15 vehicles were gutted in Sharjah in the early hours of the morning due to a gas cylinder explosion.
02 April 2011
Fire broke out at a petrochemical company in Sharjah Free Zone.
24 March 2011
A massive fire broke out in Sharjah Industrial Area 12.
08 March 2011
Fire gutted an apartment on Al Wahda Street, Sharjah, believed to have been caused by an electric short circuit.
9 January 2011
A massive fire broke out that gutted four warehouses storing electric cables and kitchen equipment in Sharjah Industrial Area 6.
7 November 2010
A massive fire broke out gutting five warehouses and a plastics factory in Sharjah Industrial Area 1.
06 July 2010
A fire broke out in a 14-storey building in Bu Tinah area, Sharjah spreading panic among residents.
11 May 2010
A large fire in Sharjah broke out at the National Paints factory warehouse which gutted four of the factory’s warehouse.
03 May 2010
A large fire gutted a used tyre warehouse in Industrial Area 5, Sharjah. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
29 April 2010
A large fire erupted at a warehouse containing plastic materials in Industrial Area 6, Sharjah. The fire was put out within half an hour and did not cause any injuries.
16 April 2010
A massive fire broke out in Industrial Area 17, near National Paints, Sharjah, gutted eight warehouses that contained tyres and perfumes.
08 April 2010
A large fire gutted three company premises and also spread to residential building in Industrial area 6 in Sharjah.
08 March 2010
A huge fire broke out in Industrial Area 13, Sharjah, destroying two warehouses and affecting 24 others.
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