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19 March 2024

What caused JLT Tamweel Tower blaze: Faulty AC unit early suspect

Civil Defence officials at the site (Picture Courtesy: Majorie van Leijen)

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By Majorie van Leijen

Authorities have started investigating the cause of fire that gutted the 34-floor residential high-rise in Jumeirah Lakes Towers on Saturday night. The fire may have been caused by air-conditioner, according to a source.

Early Sunday morning at 1am, a fire erupted on Tamweel Tower's 34th floor - a service floor hosting swimming facilities, gym and an air-conditioning plant. "The fire may have been caused by the air conditioner," suggested a commander of the fire brigade at the location.

Most of the evacuated residents of the tower are still in shock, while some of them are contemplating as to what could have led to the tragedy.

Voices quickly repeated recent accusations addressing smokers who dump their burning cigarette butts on the balconies of other residents, something which caused the fire of Saif Belhasa building in Tecom last month.

Burning candles and electrical equipment were also cited as possible igniters.

Click to see gallery of JLT's Tamweel Tower on fire

However, the fire may not have had anything to do with residents occupying the building. As the fire started on a service floor, the option of housing equipment being the cause of the fire should be excluded and technical error becomes a much more likely argument.

Air-conditioner is one of the major fire hazards in and around the house. Because the air conditioner is designed to function in certain climates not every AC is safe to be used in the UAE, as temperatures are much higher here than in other countries. The market is full of air-conditioners manufactured in European countries, Esma had said earlier.

The 34st floor of Tamweel Tower hosts the air-conditioning plant for the building and this may have caught fire, another source suggested. From there, the fire found an easy way down through the flammable cladding, another subject of concern as time and time again residential fires are seen spreading over many floors due to poorly resistant building materials.

Flaming debris did the rest of the work, explains a resident who watched how the fire developed after he had evacuated from his apartment on the 15th floor yesterday night. "Flaming material reached the balconies of some of the apartments and this is how the fire entered the building," he describes.

A third of all fires in the UAE are residential fires, according to a Civil Defense report in 2011. Common causes identified are bad electrical equipment or networking, improper gas systems or networking, accumulation of oil at the suction fan in the kitchen and burners or cigarettes in the rooms.