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Architecture News

Torch Tower in Dubai’s Marina District Catches Fire for Second Time

By Danielle Cohen
Slide1.jpg

Dubai Marina (left) and the Torch building ablaze (right)

Photos © Flickr user Fabio Achilli and Twitter user Hilda (@dhuyanik)

Slide2.jpg

Torch building ablaze

Photo © Twitter user Diana K (@dinakfouri)

Slide3.jpg

Dubai Marina

Photos © Flickr user Fabio Achilli 

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August 4, 2017

A blaze ripped through Dubai’s unfortunately named Torch Tower between 1 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. Friday morning, marking the second time in three years that the supertall luxury residential building has caught fire. The incident also represents this summer’s second major residential tower fire, following the deadly blaze that engulfed London’s Grenfell Tower in June. Unlike that tragedy, which claimed more than 80 lives, there have been no fatalities or injuries reported at the Torch.

The 1,155-foot-tall building, designed by National Engineering Bureau and completed in 2011, first went up in flames in February of 2015. Investigators blamed the building’s flammable exterior cladding — also the culprit in June’s Grenfell Tower fire — for that blaze’s rapid spread. The Telegraph reports that renovations to replace the cladding began shortly after the 2015 event and are still ongoing.

Today’s blaze comes just months after the UAE tightened regulations on flammable cladding, requiring that new buildings install flame-retardant materials and that old buildings meet the same standards when it comes time for maintenance. Aluminum panels with flammable plastic cores that covered the Torch’s exterior in 2015 may have facilitated the fire’s spread up the side of the tower, sending fiery debris crashing down to the pavement below.

The Dubai Media Office tweeted later in the day that the tower was put out without any injuries or deaths, sharing a video of the building post-blaze. According to the office’s tweets, all roads surrounding the tower are now open.

— Hilda (@dhuyanik) August 3, 2017

Video © Twitter user Hilda (@dhuyanik)

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KEYWORDS: Dubai fire resistance

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Danielle Cohen is Architectural Record’s summer 2017 ASME intern, where her responsibilities include conducting story and photo research and assisting editors with breaking stories. She is a New York-based student journalist working towards a bachelor’s degree in English and Psychology with a minor in Art History at Wesleyan University. During the academic year, Cohen edits the Arts section of The Wesleyan Argus and writes freelance for New York Magazine and The Wild Honey Pie.

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