A fire that broke out in a residential building in Oceana complex, Dubai's Palm Jumeirah, Monday late night has been put out. Tuesday 13, December 2016. Photo by Juidin Bernarrd
Dubai - The fire started Monday night at Oceana, a beachfront resort community, in Dubai's Palm Jumeirah.
By Amira Agarib and Angel Tesorero
Published: Tue 13 Dec 2016, 4:21 PM
Last updated: Tue 13 Dec 2016, 10:33 PM
The Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) has put out a fire which broke out late Monday night at Adriatic building, one of the seven towers at Oceana, an upscale residential complex on the trunk of Palm Jumeirah.
Major General Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi, director of the General Directorate of Dubai Civil Defence, confirmed that no one was injured in the incident which happened at around 11.40pm.
Al Matrooshi said the DCD operation room immediately dispatched fire brigades to the site and managed the evacuation of residents before the fire could spread out to nearby towers.
He said the fire started in the penthouse of the building, after which it spread. Seven teams of firefighters from four civil defence centres battled the blaze for close to three hours.
Also read:
As it happened: Fire breaks out in a building in Dubai's Palm Jumeirah
Oceana is a beach front resort community and a triangular-shaped luxury residential complex consisting of seven buildings and some 644 units. On one side are the fire-hit Adriatic, Pacific, Carribean and Atlantic; on the other side of the enclave are Southern, Baltic and Aegean towers.
Al Matrooshi was at the site and supervised the fire-fighting and rescue operations. He said the severity of the wind has contributed to the spread of the fire quickly in the 15-storey building, but the fire brigades managed to put out the fire and started cooling operations at 2am. The area was already clear of debris but a thin billow of smoke was still coming from the upper floors of Adriatic building on Tuesday morning when Khaleej Times visited the site. Residents of Adriatic and Pacific were billeted at nearby hotels.
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Residents' accounts
The area was already clear of debris but a thin billow of smoke was still coming from the upper floors of Adriatic building on Tuesday morning when KT visited the site.
Residents of Adriatic and Pacific were billeted at nearby hotels. Rejane, a Brazilian expat, who lives at Adriatic told Khaleej Times she was out on Monday night and when she arrived home, the police were already evacuating everyone. Thankfully, she said, the fire did not reach his apartment on the second floor.
Rejane, who spent the night at a nearby hotel, joined other residents who returned Tuesday morning but were not yet allowed to enter Adriatic building.
Authorities also did not give access to residents of adjoining Pacific tower to enter their apartments until a full damage report is out. A staff of Oceana confirmed to Khaleej Times that only residents of Adriatic and Pacific are not yet allowed to return home as of Tuesday but residents of Carribbean and Atlantic towers were already back home early Tuesday morning.
Russian expat Liubov Sdrandgrist, who lives at Atlantic (fourth building from Adriatic) said she was at home with her daughter on Mondaynight when she heard loud knocks at her door.
"The police went door-to-door asking everyone to evacuate," Sdrandgrist said "I did not hear the sound of the siren or anything because my flat is almost sound-proof and when the police came, I immediately carried my daughter and we went out of the flat."
"The fire was out at around 2am and we were allowed to go back to our home but I decided to spend the night at a friend's house. Thank God, the fire did not spread to other buildings," Sdrandgrist added.
Ali, an Iranian expat, who lives at Pacific building praised "the professional handling of the situation by DCD personnel."
"They did a good job in managing the crowd and this morning one of them even accompanied to check my flat," Ali said.
Residents also commended some security guards who have been working round the clock, retiring only for a couple of hours to sleep.
A Singapore-based Filipino nanny said she has been in Dubai only for a couple of days and the "fire was certainly an experience (I) will never forget. But nothing of my belonging was damaged in the fire. I'm just waiting for my employers who will arrive in a couple of days and I will travel with them to Europe," she said.
amira@khaleejtimes.com
angel@khaleejtimes.com
Concerned Dubai residents took to Twitter to share visuals of the raging fire.
A fire that broke out in a residential building in Oceana complex, Dubai's Palm Jumeirah, Monday late night has been put out. Tuesday 13, December 2016. Photo by Juidin Bernarrd
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