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Mock fire drill to assess readiness at hotels

DUBAI - Following a meeting on Monday involving the Dubai Civil Defence and hotel managers from across the emirate to develop and improve coordination mechanisms between firefighters, police rescue and ambulance services and the major hotels, the Civil Defence conducted a fire drill at the Hyatt Regency Hotel yesterday, one of the landmark structures in Dubai.

A series of drills have been conducted in the past one month at major five-star hotels to hone firefighters' skills in case of an emergency, thus guaranteeing flawless, rapid and effective response at the hotels in anticipation of the large number of delegates and officials expected next month for Dubai 2003, the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Colonel Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director of Dubai Civil Defence, supervised the practice drill which also tested the preparedness of hotel staff to deal with emergencies if and when they present themselves.

At 10am yesterday, the operation room at the Civil Defence Operations Room received an emergency call of a fire at the hotel, in accordance with the plan. Firefighters were dispatched from the Hamriya Fire Station. The safety team at the hotel rushed to the hotel control room the moment they heard the fire alarm and after discovering the exact location of the fire called the Civil Defence and police.

The safety team continued to provide firefighters with relevant information as they made their way to the hotel. The team directed the hotel staff to evacuate, secured hotel elevators and supervised the evacuation of hotel guests through emergency exit stairwells. The team made sure the hotel was completely evacuated and everyone assembled in the designated areas outside the hotel, in accordance with the drill plan.

The mock fire was found to have started in Room No. 705 and the hotel staff had already started using fixed hose reels to combat the fire. Civil Defence ground commanders called for the breathing apparatus unit, the mobile command unit and the snorkel fire truck equipped with a telescopic ladder as well as an extra water tanker. According to the drill scenario, one guest was reported missing.

Civil Defence men used the fire fighters' elevator at the hotel to get to the sixth floor, which was used as a safe location from where operations could be directed.

Firefighters were divided into two teams, one to combat the fire and the other to search for the missing guest with the help of Dubai Police Rescue Department officers. A third team was assigned to control the crowd.

The Hard Tasks Unit of the police rescue department managed to reach the seventh floor in anticipation of the missing guest, but found that the guest had ventured out without the knowledge of the hotel staff.

A Civil Defence fire fighter sustained ‘mock' injuries in the firefighting operation and was evacuated using the telescopic ladder and taken to a waiting ambulance.

In all, seven fire trucks and 24 firefighters, as well as 10 police officers, a police ambulance and two rescue vehicles took part in the drill.