Qatari high rise fire successfully contained as building evacuated

Video footage shows fire spreading across the outer façade of the Umm Bab Tower in West Bay, Doha

As reported by the Gulf Times, the emergency services at the Qatari National Command Center received a report of a fire at 3:22 pm on 21 July and mobilised firefighters in response.

The fire at the 28-storey residential tower was found to have spread across the building’s exterior façade and reached its roof.

Speaking to Qatar TV, director of Operations at the General Directorate of Civil Defence Lt. Col. Abdullah Mohamed al-Hail said, “The Civil Defense team arrived with the participation of the security departments, including the departments of Al Fazaa, Traffic, Criminal Investigation, and Ambulance along with other concerned departments in addition to the Search and Rescue team from the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) and the Ministry of Municipality.”

Working to evacuate the building of residents as a precaution as well as combatting the blaze, the emergency services were able to bring the fire under control quickly and no injuries were reported.

It was reported by I Love Qatar that some residents of the block were not immediately aware of the fire, with one family being informed of the situation by an online food delivery driver who was en route with their order. Shahparan Jafor Ali, a driver for the company, Talabat, said:

"When I saw the building on fire, I immediately called my customer to inform them that their building was on fire and told them to get out of the building as soon as possible."

"As soon as I called my customer to inform them, they told me they didn't realise their building was on fire. But the customer managed to get out of the building safely.”

In the aftermath of the fire, Lt. Col. al-Hail called on building owners to ensure their fire safety and prevention equipment is in good working order and adequately maintained, saying:

To avoid similar fire incidents in the future, owners should ensure the functionality of alarm and firefighting systems, security and safety systems throughout the building. Their validity should be tested on an ongoing basis.