This looks just horrible....hope everyone made it out OK although it doesn't look too good....
 
http://gizmodo.com/a-79-f...-is-on-fire-1687110144

I just spoke with my parents, they were telling me the winds right now over there are crazy, which is definitely not helping.

It was three quarters of a mile from my apartment. The high winds cannot of helped. I did not actually see anything as my route into work takes me in the opposite direction. Visability is very bad at hen moment due to the dust storms we are suffering.
 
All reports seem to suggest everyone got out safely, but there might have been some people with smoke inhalation injuries.
 
Ironically the building is call "The Torch"
 

Here's me thinking these buildings were supposed to be fireproof, i.e. a fire would not spread from one floor to the other. 

sharke
Here's me thinking these buildings were supposed to be fireproof, i.e. a fire would not spread from one floor to the other. 

You would have thought that it would take a major fire to spread over such a wide area so quickly. It should be possible to contain it in one area long enough to put it out.
 
Its not the first time its happened in Dubai. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EXGvUCIdUc
This one was blamed on waste materials catching fire by a discarded cigarette butt http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/emergencies/cigarette-butt-caused-tamweel-tower-fire-1.1114231
 

Well it looks like this one was actually the external cladding on fire, not the inside of the building, which explains the lack of casualties. Apparently the same type of cladding has been responsible for other fires. I guess that explains why it spread so quickly in such a spectacular fashion. Still, it doesn't say much for building codes.

 
 
From the thread/link you posted.
NBC has been hoping that this would go away with time, but I think this is stuck to him forever.
 
I was glad to see only four injuries.
 
J

I was going to walk down that area tonight but the wind and dust suppressed my morbid curiosity. A good day to stay indoors.

It think it may be the building a colleague of mine was forced out of by a greedy landlord. He was not happy at the time but he will be thankful now.

Glyn Barnes
I was going to walk down that area tonight but the wind and dust suppressed my morbid curiosity. A good day to stay indoors.

GOOD... you know something might be ready to fall off that building. There has to be a LOT of structural damage to what is left of the cladding.
BTW, does the dust get in everything?
How hot does it get there?
Is Dubai the place where they threw a guy in jail for years because he had a pot seed or a bit of bud stuck in the sole tread of his athletic shoe at the airport?
What is the law like there? Are they really hard nosed? Could you wear a cross on a chain or carry a Bible there?
Can you get an ale there?
Are the jails/prisons notorious? (Not that I think you have first hand info..lol). 
I'm really curious... I've never been to the middle east and these days it looks like I will never get to go to the places I'd really like to visit. I've been to most of the continental United States. Been to Ontario a couple of times. Been to Germany. I need to get out more...
I'd love to see Lebanon, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and some other exotic places but they have become so unsafe, heck it is just as unsafe 30 miles from here at night... for me at least. I guess I could settle for the Mediterranean coast of Greece or the beach on the Black Sea. Moscow is probably safe enough, however... If it were safe, my first choice of places to visit for an extended stay would be Afghanistan. Not the city but one of the tribal areas. I think that would be a truly enriching experience... not worth dying for though.
 
Sorry for the ramble. I really am interested in what it is like living in Dubai. Also, do you get out and around to other countries?

Lots of questions. Dubai is a modern cosmopolitan city. It's pretty liberal but there are lines you should not cross. Alcohol is served in numerous outlets. But if you get drunk and cause serious problems they will throw the book at you. Actually I do not feel restricted here, if I follow the same standards of behaviour and decency I would at home I am unliey to get in trouble.

There are churches here and wearing a cross is unlikely cause you any problems. If it did it would be with one odd random individual.

Oh and I would not have gone that close to the tower, one would get a good view across the water in the Marina.

I have been in Oman, Saudi, Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Syria. It pains me to see Syria now, the people where so welcoming and hospitable.