Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Building Fire Hazards


I went past this building today that was on fire last week (I think it was last week).....


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Thankfully, no one was killed.... this time. There are many of these old buildings around the city. They have no sprinkler systems, do not meet any kind fire safety regulations and are a total liability. The people who live in these buildings really do not have any choice, because they will be the only type of building that they could afford to live in. There must be 1000s and 1000s of people who are risking their lives whenever they go home. People have died in similar fires over the years and more will die in the future. This should be a priority for the government. Instead of building more and more office space which they will never attract enough businesses to fill (not just my opinion - comes from numerous sources well connected in the commercial real estate business), they should build some quality housing for the masses of workers in the (mainly) services industries who live like this in the city (construction workers generally live outside the city in workers camps, which thankfully are improving - so I will give the government credit for that).


4 comments:

  1. Hi,

    I strongly agree with you
    http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100903/NATIONAL/709029824&SearchID=73402269423058

    Marie

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  2. It's a disgrace Marie, I hope they do something about it.

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  3. Those old buildings are probably nearly 40 years old but that is no excuse for not retrofitting them with sprinklers. I am sure many more folks lived in the units than it is designed for.

    On a better note, I have noticed the newer buildings are properly equipped with sprinklers, smoke detectors, extinguishers and standpipes almost to obsession. I used to be a fire protection design engineer in a former life and tend to notice things like that.

    I also agree about inexpensive, quality housing needed for the majority of blue collar expats here. They are kind of stuck living in these rat traps. With labor as cheap as it is here, this shouldn't put too big of a dent in the Sovereign Fund.

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