Ensure availability and functionality of fire prevention equipment in buildings, Civil Defence

In the wake of the fire outbreak at Al Abraj Area in West Bay, the Civil Defence authorities have urged owners of high-rise buildings, towers and residences to ensure the safety equipment is properly functioning.

“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,” director of Operations at the General Directorate of Civil Defence Lt. Col. Abdullah Mohamed al-Hail told Qatar TV in a telephonic interview on Sunday.

He said that rescue operations were successfully carried out to contain the fire without any casualties with coordination from various entities.

“The emergency services at the National Command Center received a report of a fire at 3:22 pm and the fire force moved to deal with the fire that extended from the building’s exterior facade and reached its roof. Work was done to evacuate the building of its residents, as the teams present were divided into three teams for evacuation, rescue and firefighting, and the fire was controlled in a short time without any injuries. The means and mechanisms were used to control the fire. 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,” al-Hail explained.

A fire erupted at Umm Bab Tower in West Bay on Sunday afternoon.