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#278363 - 12/31/15 07:10 PM Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper
brandtb Offline
Addict

Registered: 11/26/04
Posts: 500
Loc: S.E. Pennsylvania
www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35207451

A huge fire has broken out in a high-rise hotel in central Dubai close to the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa.


Burning debris could bee seen falling from the 300m-tall (1,000-feet) building, called The Address, as firefighters arrived at the scene.


It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.


The blaze erupted ahead of a major New Year's Eve fireworks display, due to be held at the Burj Khalifa.
Crowds gathering to watch the display have been asked the leave.


Fire appeared to have engulfed much of the building, which has more than 60 storeys.
There is no indication so far of what might have caused the fire.


The Dubai government tweeted (in Arabic) that the fire had started on the 20th floor.


A tourist, Michelle Duque, who is visiting Dubai, told the BBC: "All of a sudden we saw this huge black plume of black smoke coming between the Khalifa Tower and the hotel.


"The flames burst out really big and before we knew it the whole of the Address Hotel was covered in orange flames."
_________________________
Univ of Saigon 68

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#278364 - 12/31/15 07:11 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: brandtb]
brandtb Offline
Addict

Registered: 11/26/04
Posts: 500
Loc: S.E. Pennsylvania
In my family we have a standing rule when checking into a hotel/motel with inside-opening room doors (as opposed to doors that open directly to the outside parking lot) -

The first thing when entering the room is to clear it with gun in hand.

The second thing is to go into the hall and count the number of doorways between our room and the fire exit. You need to count them because you may be crawling to the exit on hands and knees thru a dark smoke-filled hall.

The third thing is to go to the fire exit and make sure it opens.

The fourth thing is to locate the nearest fire extinguisher or hose.

We always keep our keys and wallets by the room door in case we have to get out in a hurry.

And lastly, we never, never, ignore a fire alarm in any building. I have been in 'important' meetings at work when the alarm went off. "Oh, it's always doing that." Everybody else just sat there. I got up and left. I caught hell for it later, but the budget meeting just isn't that important.

I had to go to meetings and seminars in many hotel conference rooms. The first thing I always did was find the fire exit.

White Plains, NY Stouffer's Hotel Fire, Dec 1980

VICTIMS DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE.


White Plains (AP) -- Business executives gathered for meetings at a hotel here "didn't have a chance" when an electrical fire raced through conference rooms with heat so intense it melted walls, fire officials said.

The blaze yesterday at the suburban Stouffer's Inn killed 26 people and injured at least 40.
"The fire was so strong, so fast, that it was like a bomb exploding," said FRANZ EICHENAURER, an executive chef for General Foods.

"It appears it flashed up suddenly and these people didn't have a chance," said Purchase Fire Chief ROBERT MAKOWSKI.

One Woman Dies.

GARY PAPARO, the Westchester County medical examiner, said today the 26 victims worked for Arrow Electronics Inc. and Nestle Co. Inc. One was a woman and the other 25 were men.

The medical examiner estimated it will be two to four days before names are released.

PAPARO also said all died within two or three minutes of the start of the fire and were killed by smoke inhalation with carbon monoxide in the smoke.

"The bodies were cherry-red and showed inhalation of soot deep into the airways of their lungs" characteristics of death by smoke poisoning, PAPARO said.

"Charred badly"

Story continues at -

www3.gendisasters.com/new-york/4265/white-plains,-ny-stouffer%2526%2523039%3Bs-hotel-fire,-dec-1980
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Univ of Saigon 68

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#278371 - 12/31/15 08:40 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: brandtb]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Originally Posted By: brandtb
-

The first thing when entering the room is to clear it with gun in hand.


Really! Better try lodging on the other side of the tracks...
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Geezer in Chief

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#278373 - 12/31/15 09:08 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: brandtb]
Tjin Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/08/02
Posts: 1821
Originally Posted By: brandtb

The first thing when entering the room is to clear it with gun in hand.


So if the staff made a mistake and gave you or somebody else the wrong keys, somebody might be suprised by a person suddenly getting in his/her room with a gun in hand... I can see a unwanted escalation potential there.

Originally Posted By: brandtb

And lastly, we never, never, ignore a fire alarm in any building. I have been in 'important' meetings at work when the alarm went off. "Oh, it's always doing that." Everybody else just sat there. I got up and left. I caught hell for it later, but the budget meeting just isn't that important.


Depends on the work environment. In some cases you risk getting fired for ignoring fire alarms. I know locations, were you are welcomed, than emergency exits locations and evauaction zones are pointed out (which is also printed on the backside of the visitor pass, which needs to be worn all the time). Than they start the meeting.
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#278374 - 12/31/15 09:22 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: brandtb]
Teslinhiker Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/14/09
Posts: 1418
Loc: Nothern Ontario
Originally Posted By: brandtb

The first thing when entering the room is to clear it with gun in hand.

Is the personal security situation in the USA that bad where people have to use a gun to enter a hotel room? If this indeed the case and considered normal behavior then I would be a lot more worried about being shot then the hotel catching on fire.
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Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock

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#278375 - 12/31/15 09:22 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: brandtb]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
I travel quite a bit for work and have been through two hotel fires, both in the middle of the night while sleeping.

  • I always count the doors to the fire exit.
  • The only fire exit I ever found that wouldn't open was in the UK, and I kicked the door open, breaking the lock, during what turned out to be a fire drill. I dared the building owner to make an issue out of it (it was a lot of years ago, and it's possible I wasn't as pleasant about it as I could have been). In the US I don't worry about hotel fire escapes being locked.
  • I do check for fire extinguisher locations, but keep in mind that if you can't knock a fire down with a single extinguisher, the correct protocol is to drop the fire extinguisher and run away screaming like a little girl.
  • I always have pants, shoes, shirt, and appropriate outerwear lined up and ready to go before I go to sleep in a hotel. I also set up a flashlight on moonlight mode, somewhere that I can see it from the bed. It's near my wallet, keys, shoes, and so forth.
  • At offices, conferences, and the like, I never leave my keys or wallet behind anywhere, not even at my desk. If a fire alarm goes off while away from your desk, being able to get in my car to stay warm has made a big difference for me a few times.


Never ignore a fire alarm.

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#278376 - 12/31/15 09:32 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: Teslinhiker]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
Originally Posted By: Teslinhiker
Is the personal security situation in the USA that bad where people have to use a gun to enter a hotel room? If this indeed the case and considered normal behavior then I would be a lot more worried about being shot then the hotel catching on fire.


Speaking for myself, I won't stay at a hotel where I think I might need to draw my gun to enter my room. I've walked out of hotels where the security situation wasn't what I was expecting.

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#278379 - 12/31/15 10:02 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: Teslinhiker]
wildman800 Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/09/06
Posts: 2846
Loc: La-USA
No, the security situation has never been that sad at hotels that I stay in... Just my experience.
_________________________
QMC, USCG (Ret)
The best luck is what you make yourself!

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#278380 - 12/31/15 10:03 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: brandtb]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
Reminds me of a situation in college. In the building with the cafeteria, there was a period of time in which there were false alarms all the time. It got to the point the students didn't even flinch. They kept on eating.

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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#278382 - 12/31/15 10:42 PM Re: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
A really class establishment would perform the room clearance for you - no extra charge, although it would probably be a good idea to generously tip the people doing the clearance.

Perhaps there is a business opportunity here - "Who Knows What Lurks Within? Room Clearance Executed While U Wait!! Bang Up Job Guaranteed! (and we clean up all blood stains gratis)"
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Geezer in Chief

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