Dubai Firefighters battled a blaze in the Atlantis, The Palm, on Tuesday morning, police said.
The fire erupted at 7.30am in the main lobby of Dh5.5 billion ($1.5 billion) resort hotel three weeks ahead of its much-publicised September 24 opening.
Ashly McBain, director of public relations at Kerzner International, which owns the hotel, confirmed the fire broke out in the main lobby as the workers were doing their daily job.
Brig. Mehdi Abdul Al Jalal of the Criminal Investigative Department of Dubai Police, said the fire was contained in less than an hour.
Smoke was seen billowing out of Atlantis' big dome beneath its signature arch at 11am as firefighters continued to douse it with water.
Eyewitnesses and workers on The Palm told XPRESS that at the height of the fire, thick plumes of smoke stretched more than a kilometre up in the air.
“It was big,'' said an Asian worker. “There was a thick, black smoke coming out of the dome.''
Private security men closed the tunnel leading to the resort hotel at the head of the reclaimed crescent at the top of the palm-shaped reclamation.
McBain said the cause has not been determined yet.
“We're still assessing the situation to determine the reason for the fire and the extent of the damage,'' she said. “The fire has been contained and extinguished, and no one was injured.
“Fire only happened in the lobby and it was contained in the lobby. I don't know if it will affect the opening. The safety of our employees was our number one concern. We are working with the fire and police departments to ensure everyone's safety.''
Dubai's roads are dotted with billboards announcing the September 24 opening of the Atlantis, a 1,539-room oasis resort which the company said will be the largest destination of its kind in the Middle East.
It is modelled after the first Atlantis built in the Bahamas in the early 1990s.
Crowned by the imposing Royal Towers Hotel, Atlantis is surrounded by open-air marine lagoons and stocked with 65,000 marine animals from the Gulf and beyond.
Press statement
“There was limited damage to the external roof and lobby dome this morning as a result of a contained fire at Atlantis, Palm Jumeirah resort in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The site was fully evacuated of all staff and no one was injured. All safety and fire systems operated in accordance with standard operating procedures and emergency services worked quickly to extinguish the fire. Atlantis will open on time on 24 September, 2008,'' said a statement from Atlantis.
