The dramatic fire prompted conversations over long-standing concerns about the sort of cladding used in Dubai towers.

The tower became the tallest residential building in the world in 2011 but was surpassed in 2012 by the nearby 23 Marina and Princess Tower directly across the street.

Some locals also posted on social media offering help and rooms to The Torch's residents.

The Dubai Media Office also confirmed that Dubai authorities were working on providing shelter at the Princess Tower for those affected by the Torch Tower fire.

The Dubai Police Commander in Chief and Dubai Civil Defence Director General were reportedly on the scene as measures to control the fire at the tower were underway.

By 3.40am local time, the Dubai Media Office reported that the Dubai Civil Defence had brought the fire under control and that cooling operations were underway.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

No causalities have been reported so far and many have been evacuated from the building.

One eye witness, Rob Shepherd, wrote on Twitter, "We're out but people are in tears... cars are exploding all around now... being moved further away".

The Dubai building was struck by a fire in 2015 and is currently undergoing restorative work.

Videos circulated online show the fire rapidly spread upwards as large quantities of burning debris fell onto the streets below.

A fire broke out at Torch tower in Dubai, one of the world’s tallest residential buildings, in the early hours of this morning.

Dubai Civil Defence reports no casualties and that all pets had been rescued and reunited with their owners after fire damages 38 apartments over 64 floors

Residents of the Torch Tower in Dubai Marina have told of their escape from a massive fire at one of the world's tallest residential buildings.

Annie Bricker, 34, from Austin, Texas said the fire had started about 1 am when she was in bed. “I got out into the stairwell and it was pretty calm,” she said.

“People were coming out of their flats and asking if it was a false alarm. I said to them don’t take the risk, get out now and we can find out once we’re outside.

“We all started walking to the stairwell. We were a long way up, but using the lift was out of the question as I didn’t know if it would stop half way down and then we would be trapped.”

The fire is the second at the Torch Tower in Dubai Marina, with repairs made to external cladding following a blaze in February 2015.

Dubai Civil Defence reported that 475 people had been successfully evacuated with no casualties and that all pets had been rescued and reunited with their owners.

An investigation is now under way into the cause of the fire, which started on the 26th floor of the 86 floor building.

Drone footage released by Dubai Media Office after the blaze was put out showed the seat of the fire on the south west corner of the tower, which spread rapidly. Authorities said the fire had damaged 38 apartments over 64 floors, up to the 85th.

Crews from six Civil Defence stations were involved in fighting the blaze.

#Dubai Civil Defence rescued pets from Torch Tower last night and reunited them with their owners pic.twitter.com/mH6KsLM80s — Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) August 4, 2017

Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, and Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director-General of Civil Defence in Dubai, were present at the scene according to WAM, the UAE official news agency.

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Read more

In pictures: Torch tower blaze

2015: Fire rips through Dubai’s Marina Torch

2015: The Torch blaze reignites concerns over cladding used for Dubai towers

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Burning debris also fell into the street, showering parked vehicles and causing smaller fires. The main fire was reported to have been extinguished just before 3 am.

Ms Bricker said she was helped by maps on each floor showing the fire procedure, in English and Arabic and directing residents to the nearest exits.

“When you live in Dubai, and you are in a high rise you know fires can happen so you have to have a plan,” added Ms Bricker, who is a communication manager at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

“The police were very helpful. They said we may be able to get back into the building at 7.30pm tonight, but that looks doubtful.

“I have a friend who is out of town who said I can stay at his place. I was one of the first ones to get out, I think more people were either asleep or were not at home.

“The biggest fear was not the fire, but people getting trampled in the stairwell, but everyone was very calm. People seemed to be logical in what they were doing.”

Witness Mike Ulanski describes his escape from the blaze.

Police at the scene were checking on residents, and directing them to three nearby hotels, including the Intercontinental. Ms Bricker said she was offered a room at a discounted rate by the One to One hotel, including a free breakfast and a late checkout.

Residents also received an emergency call from Torch Tower reception an hour after they had left to ensure they were safe. An emergency SMS text message was also sent out to advise them on what was happening.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said he escaped by running down the stairs. "There was an alarm going I came out of the apartment with my wallet and mobile phone, that was it."

#Dubai Authorities release a video of the aftermath of the fire at the Torch Tower. The fire was brought under control without any injuries. pic.twitter.com/FD4rCiRkud — Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) August 4, 2017

The man, who lives on the seventh floor , added: "I saw there was a sparking from the roof coming down the side of the building. It must have been on Level 45 or 50, and it was going up.

"Pieces were falling down on the lower levels and landing on a balcony and that was starting a new fire going up, that's why it got so big."

People were exiting the building in a "quite orderly" way, he said.

Emergency crews did a "great job" trying to put out the smaller fires as debris fell, he added. Crews were inside the buildings on certain levels, he said, concentrating on putting out a smoking debris on the podium level to prevent the fire spreading.

"We were lucky there was not a bigger fire, or nobody lost their lives."

Read more: New fire rules that enforce strict controls on builders came into force in January

Kingfield Owner Association Management Services, the building management company for the Torch issued short statement saying that: "The safety of all residents and staff is of the utmost importance, and our efforts are currently focused on arranging the necessary emergency accommodation for residents." The company said a fuller statement would be issued at a later stage.

New tougher fire regulations for cladding on buildings came into force in the UAE in January following a series of high rise blazes, including the Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai on New Year's Eve 2015, but it is unclear if the repairs to the Torch following the earlier fire would have come under them.

Dubai Civil Defence: Torch Tower fire brought largely under control. No casualties have been reported so far pic.twitter.com/ETJN3kPu2a — Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) August 3, 2017

The 2015 fire was brought under control quickly, with no fatalities and seven people treated for smoke inhalation.

But the dramatic fire prompted conversations over long-standing concerns about the sort of cladding used in Dubai towers.

The Torch Tower fire comes less than two months after the devastating fire - thought to be exacerbated by the type of cladding used to insulate the building - at Grenfell Tower in the UK in which more than 80 people lost their lives.

The tower became the tallest residential building in the world in 2011 but was surpassed in 2012 by the nearby 23 Marina and Princess Tower directly across the street. The Torch is 1,105 ft tall, with 79 floors above ground.</s>A huge fire in Dubai raced up the sides of one of the world’s tallest residential skyscrapers on Friday, raining flaming debris on the streets below and causing a frantic nighttime evacuation by residents.

Firefighters put out the flames within a few hours, and no serious injuries were reported, but the blaze raised new questions about safety in the skyscraper-studded cities of the Persian Gulf.

Several skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai, have caught fire in recent years, most notably a 63-story luxury hotel that was engulfed in flames on New Year’s Eve in 2015.

The building in which Friday’s fire occurred — known as the Torch Tower — had also caught fire in 2015, and parts of the building were still being renovated from the last blaze when the new one struck.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Police in Dubai reopened the streets around one of the world’s tallest residential skyscrapers after firefighters put out a blaze that erupted early Friday in the high-rise, forcing residents to evacuate in the middle of the night and sending chunks of debris plummeting below.

No major injuries had been reported in the tower, located in an upscale waterfront district heavily populated by expatriates from around the world. A few people were treated for smoke inhalation, according to Dubai’s Gulf News website.

Several residents said the fire broke out just after 1 a.m. at the 87-story Torch Tower — a more than 1,100-foot-tall (335 meters) residential building in Dubai’s Marina district.

The tower has 676 apartments — 38 of which were burnt and destroyed by the fire, according to the official Dubai media office. Sixty-four floors of the facade of the building were also burnt, they said.

The same building had also caught fire just two-and-a-half years earlier.

The cause of the fire on was not immediately known but in the past, such infernos in Dubai have been linked to highly flammable building cladding — as was the devastating June tower fire in London that killed at least 80 people.

“You never think it’s going to happen to you,” said Alireza Aletomeh, a resident of the tower. “I had cash in there, furniture, paintings. … Many things that are very valuable to me.”

Aletomeh, a sales manager, said he moved to the Torch Tower just three months ago, snagging an apartment on the 54th floor of the luxury tower. He said he was coming home after midnight when building security guards told him to remain in the street because a fire had erupted.

He said his roommate grabbed their passports and that it took him more than two hours to come down the stairway because of the rush of people trying to get out at the same time. At least one woman passed out in the stairway, Aletomeh said.

Nearly the entire length of the building on one side became engulfed in flames at one point during the blaze as residents looked on from below, many in tears.

The firefighters battled the blaze for more than two hours. Officials say 84 floors of the building are residential and three are for services.

Dubai’s Civil Defense announced at about 3:30 a.m. that firefighters had brought the blaze under control and said cooling operations were underway.

Authorities shared video of the building from the outside later on Friday, showing the entire length of the tower charred on one side.

By midday Friday, a few police cars could be seen in the area, but the main streets around it were open to traffic and had been wiped clean of debris, some of which had fallen on cars parked below.

The skyscraper, however, remained closed to residents. Officials said they were providing shelter at three nearby hotels for residents. By nightfall, residents still had not been told when they would be allowed to return to check on their apartments.

The Torch Tower previously caught fire in February 2015; there were also no casualties reported in that blaze.

In both incidents, fire alarms alerted residents and building staff knocked on doors to ensure evacuation.

 Kingfield Owner Association Management Services, which manages the tower, did not provide any details about the cause of the blaze in a brief response to questions.

“The safety of all residents and staff is of the utmost importance, and our efforts are currently focused on arranging the necessary emergency accommodation for residents,” spokeswoman Anel-Carline Beukes said without elaborating.

The tower was built by developer Select Group and opened in 2011. Select did not respond to requests for comment.

Aletomeh, who is now staying with friends, said towers like the Torch should have sprinklers. He wondered why Civil Defense crews did not deploy helicopters to try and extinguish the fire quicker.

“Putting out the fire was the most important thing, which took them so long,” he said.

Simon Bach, a New Zealander who lives in a high-rise across the street, told The Associated Press he saw a few policemen as well as Emiratis in traditional white robes helping people get out. About 10 to 12 firetrucks arrived quickly on the scene, he said.

He said just as the firefighters had seemed to bring the blaze under control, falling debris ignited a part of the building further down.

“It seemed really out of control,” he said. “People were streaming out of the car parks of the building.”

Several skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates have caught fire in recent years, including a towering inferno that engulfed a 63-story luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year’s Eve in 2016. In that blaze, as in others in Dubai in recent years, residents escaped without major injury.

And on Thursday evening, in the neighboring emirate of Sharjah, an under-construction tower caught fire that raged for several hours as local media and nearby residents posted dramatic images of the blaze.

Earlier this year, Dubai passed new fire safety rules requiring buildings with quick-burning side paneling to replace it with more fire-resistant siding.

Authorities have previously acknowledged that at least 30,000 buildings across the UAE have cladding or paneling that safety experts have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.

While the new regulations are now in place for construction in Dubai and other cities, it’s unclear how authorities will force owners to replace flammable siding with better material.

The tragic June inferno in London prompted Britain to order more thorough testing on the cladding systems of its towers.</s>MIAMI (CBSMiami) — The cause of a massive fire at one of the world’s tallest residential buildings is under investigation Friday morning.

Dramatic video shows the flames engulfing part of the Middle Eastern skyscraper overnight. The fire sent chunks of debris crashing to the ground.

Incredibly, everyone made it out alive.

This is the second time in recent years the Dubai building, known as “Torch Tower,” has caught fire.

The iconic Torch Tower earned its name as one of the first mega rises in Dubai, but last night it literally looked like a torch after the fire engulfed 40 floors.

The massive flames lit up the night as they spread up one side of the tower, tearing through more the 40 floors.

Burning embers and chunks of debris showered the streets below as firefighters battled the high-rise inferno.

The 86-story Torch Tower is one of the world’s tallest residential buildings with more than 600 homes. The fire started around 1 a.m., when many people inside were asleep.

Dubai fire officials say no one was hurt and the flames were under control in just two hours.

It’s the second massive fire at the tower in just over two years.

In February 2015, a blaze swallowed the building. Again, no one was injured.

Fire engineers said that fire was likely accelerated by the exterior cladding or siding which was replaced last year.

Similar cladding is blamed for fueling London’s Grenfell Tower fire in June. At least 80 people were killed as flames engulfed the building in minutes.

It’s still unclear what caused Friday morning’s torch tower fire and whether cladding played a role.</s>A massive blaze was engulfing one of the world’s tallest residential buildings in Dubai early on Friday, residents said, but authorities noted the tower had been evacuated and no injuries were reported.

Flames shot up the sides of the Torch tower in the upscale Marina district in the second blaze at the building since 2015, causing burning debris to fly down the structure.

The Dubai government said firefighting squads from four Civil Defence stations have been deployed and the fire has been brought under control.

“No injuries have been reported so far in the Torch tower fire incident,” the government said on its Twitter account.

“Dubai Civil Defence has successfully evacuated the Torch tower and is working to bring the fire under control,” it added.

Residents and eyewitnesses have been posting images and photos of the 79-story skyscraper on fire on social media.

Hundreds of people were evacuated in 2015 from the same building when a massive fire swept through the tower.

Dubai is one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a Gulf Arab trade and investment hub.</s>Wealthy residents of Dubai's Torch Tower were texted, phoned and emailed when a blaze broke out this morning, giving them time to pack and evacuate in just 10 minutes – unlike victims of London's Grenfell disaster who were told to stay put.

Footage shows people in the 1,100ft, 86-storey skyscraper calmly wheeling their suitcases along a corridor and a member of staff directing them to the exit as a fire ravaged the tower's exterior.

The same building was devastated by fire in 2015 and its flammable cladding, which was similar to that used in Grenfell Tower, was blamed for fuelling the flames.

Unlike the inferno in West London in June, in which at least 80 died, residents of the Torch were able to escape unharmed with only a few people treated for smoke inhalation.

Residents of the Torch were woken at about 1 am by internal fire alarms and building management who sent workers knocking on doors to ensure people got out safely. Witnesses said people walked in an 'orderly fashion' down fire escape stairs.

In contrast, Grenfell residents reported not hearing an alarm. Firefighter also told people to remain in their flats, believing that they could contain the fire.

Fire 'spread rapidly' through one of the world's tallest residential towers sparking panic among terrified residents - including dozens of Britons - after a day when temperatures in the city climbed to 45C (113F).

Alarming footage showed flames climbing up the outside of the skyscraper, a building popular with expats in the United Arab Emirates tourism hotspot.

Burning debris could be seen crashing down to the ground below as tearful residents fled and firefighters desperately tackled the blaze.

Residents this morning described how they woke to screaming and fire alarms after a blaze broke out on the 63rd floor. It is understood to have spread across 40-storeys of the 676-flat building, where apartments start at £381,000. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Parts of the building were still undergoing restoration work following the 2015 blaze when the second fire broke out overnight. In both incidents, it appears fire alarms alerted residents and building staff knocked on doors to ensure a quick evacuation.

Dubai residents and tourists shared photos and videos of the flaming debris falling from the building.

Yorkshire-born resident Lucy, 27, said she was woken by fire alarms going off just before 1am and had to descend 40 floors from her apartment to safety.

She said although no sprinklers had started before she left the building, the tower's security team had triggered a system which gave an automated call, email and text to all residents within minutes of the fire starting.

She said: 'I woke up straight away. It was not until I got outside and saw people pouring out that I realised how serious it was. I don't know how long it took me to come down, I was in a daze. My friend who lives on the 22nd floor called when I reached the 20th floor and said: 'Get out now' and it only sank in then that this was a real emergency.

'When I got outside, I saw fire all down one side of the building. It had obviously started on a high floor but burning debris was falling onto the ground and setting fire to cars below. My flat is on the other side of the building so I am hoping it will be okay.

'I was in pyjamas and slippers and had just grabbed my phone as I was leaving. There was a lady in front of my carrying a baby. It was hard enough going down 40 floors as it was without having to carry a child.'

She said that the Torch 'apparently has a similar type of cladding to Grenfell Tower but the response was very different.

'The quality of buildings here in Dubai worries me but I could not fault the way they dealt with it. They knew exactly what to do.

'I drove past Grenfell recently and it is just a black shell.

'Here they had an automated system and all the security staff were not getting out themselves, they were helping others out.

'I don't know whether no one died simply because they managed to get this fire under control [or whether that's the reason].'

Lucy added she was staying with a friend until residents are allowed back into the building, which could be as early as tomorrow.

Kingfield Owner Association Management Services, which manages the maintenance of Torch tower, bussed out hundreds of residents in the early hours to different hotels across the city, where their overnight stays will be covered by insurance.

Evacuated residents are staying in different hotels across Dubai or with friends.

The neighbouring Princess Tower opened its 97th floor lounge to any stranded residents last night, who camped on makeshift beds made of plastic-covered mattresses and sheets on the floor.

Moustafa Touson, 36, an Egyptian hotel services manager living in Torch, slept on a sofa in the lounge and was huddled under a blanket all day after being left stranded with no money or credit cards.

All his possessions were abandoned in his 30th floor flat and car parked on the second floor, neither of which he has been able to access.

He said: 'I heard the alarm go off at about midnight. I tried to go back to sleep as I did not realise it was an emergency but when I looked out of the window, I saw pieces of burning debris falling from upper floors.

'The lifts were out of action so I took the stairs and went to the assembly point outside, where there were a lot of people gathered.

'It wasn't too hard going down 30 floors but there were women there in high heels who were struggling. I was okay but I did wonder how an old person would be able to make it down from a top floor.

'My parents would not have made it if they had been living here. Everyone stayed calm - no one was really panicking until we got outside, where a few people were crying.

'The fire brigade was giving instructions to the security guys on the ground floor but no one was running or pushing. 'There was no crush coming down the stairs.

'There were a lot of drunk people around as it was the start of the weekend. Once we were outside, they told us all to get back as there were pieces of burning metal coming down and it was dangerous.

'I work in a hotel so we often have safety briefings and I wasn't worried. I'm just wondering how I will manage without food, money or credit cards. They have not said when we can go back in yet.'

He added the Torch fire could not be compared to Grenfell as they were on a different scale.

He said: 'It could happen anywhere. It's not a question of technology or materials, it is just down to luck. We were just lucky.'

A resident who gave his name as George told Reuters: 'We were sleeping and we woke up to the fire alarm and people screaming. We ran down the stairs and it took us about 10 minutes to reach from the 50th floor.

'It was very bad. The fire was very strong at that time, about 1 am. Then it started calming down over the next two hours,' he added.

One Scottish couple were left devastated after being forced to flee their burning home for the second time in two years.

Leeanne Hume, 38, and her husband Donnie, 40, fled the Torch tower in their pyjamas when the building caught fire two years ago.

The couple from Wishaw had to escape for a second time in the early hours after fire ripped through the tower once again.

Heartbroken Mrs Hume said: 'This is horrific. We are safe but our building is horrendous, worse than last time.'

The pair were woken by alarms and security personnel and fled to a friend's home for refuge because they couldn't bear to see the building they have lived in for four years destroyed a second time.

Mrs Hume, who does not yet know the extent of the damage in their 15th floor apartment, said: 'I am scared to look at news or go back. As selfish as it sounds, I just pray our stuff is safe.'

Watford-born Danny Harper, a bar manager who lives on the 68th floor, said his flat had been destroyed in the fire, along with his possessions and his passport.

He was spending the morning trying to find out how to replace his documents and said: 'Thankfully I work nights and I am safe. My flat, however, is not and my passport is gone.'

Cambridge University graduate Effy Chengyu Wang, a management consultant from China, said she had grabbed her passport and wallet as she ran for her life but said: 'I am alive but I lost everything.'

The fire broke out on the southwest corner of the building, on the opposite corner to the previous fire.

Today there was still hoarding covering the damage from the 2015 blaze while an acrid smell of burning filled the air and bits of charred debris were still falling onto surrounding land.

Dozens of police officers and civil defence officers surrounded the building, preventing onlookers from taking pictures. There were no reported casualties, according to Wam, the official government news agency.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said fire alarms first went off just before 1am. He said residents had filed out via the stairs in an 'orderly' fashion.

The fire was put out within three hours and an evacuation centre set up nearby.

Simon Bach, a New Zealander who lives in a high-rise across the street, told The Associated Press he saw a few policemen as well as Emiratis in traditional white robes helping people get out. About 10 to 12 firetrucks arrived quickly on the scene, he said.

He said just as the firefighters had seemed to bring the blaze under control, falling debris ignited a part of the building further down.

'It seemed really out of control,' he said. 'People were streaming out of the car parks of the building.'

This morning, Dubai's civil defence authorities said firefighting squads put out the blaze around 4am and were cooling the building.

Firefighters and police sealed off surrounding streets, which were partially covered by dust and debris.

By 4am the exterior of the building showed no sign of fire as residents and onlookers stood around staring up at the building, according to witnesses.

Another resident, whose gave his name as Mohammed and lives on the 12th floor, said the top part of the tower caught fire first and then lower levels followed as debris fell.

The government said it was working on providing shelter for those affected by the fire.

The cause of the fire is not yet known but civil defence officials said they had 'successfully evacuated' the building and were investigating.

The Torch Tower is the fifth tallest residential building in the world and stands at more than 330 metres (1,105 ft).

It became the tallest residential building in the world in 2011 but lost the record the following year to the neighbouring Princess Tower.

In 2014, a luxury 6,500 sq ft penthouse apartment - accessible by exclusive lift access - with four en suite bedrooms and views across the towering Dubai Marina skyline went on the market for the equivalent of about £2.8million.

The tower's facilities include a gym, spa and outdoor pool with decking and upmarket furniture for its users.

Dubai authorities have previously said that some 30,000 properties across the United Arab Emirates had cladding or panelling that safety officials have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.

HOW CLADDING CAME UNDER THE MICROSCOPE AFTER 2015 TORCH TOWER BLAZE In February 2015 Britons told of their terror as hundreds of residents were evacuated from Torch Tower when a fire broke out (pictured) In February 2015 Britons told of their terror as hundreds of residents were evacuated from one of the world's tallest residential buildings after it was engulfed in flames in the early hours of the morning. Pictures and video footage showed the large blaze rip through multiple floors of the Marina Torch tower in the expat-heavy Marina district of the city. More than a dozen fire were called on to extinguish after the fire alarm went off around 2am local time. One witness said flames shot out from two sides of the building as glass and metal rained down from near the summit of the skyscraper. Major General Rashid Al Matroushi said around 100 officers from nine civil defence stations took part in putting out the blaze. Two residents of the Torch, who were evacuated from the building, were told the fire started on the 52nd floor. They said the flaming material fell and set lower parts of the building ablaze. As daylight broke in Dubai the next morning, the external cladding on the corners of the Marina Torch building were mangled and charred black. In November 2012, experts blamed the same external coating for the inferno that engulfed another luxury Dubai development known as the Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT). The blaze at the 34-storey Tamweel Tower forced a mass evacuation of residents who lost all their worldly belongings. According to Gulf Business , some experts blamed faulty air-conditioning caused the accident while others have said sub-standard cladding material caused the blaze. 'As is evident from the videos, the fire started at the roof of building, and that might have been due to a short-circuit or over heating of any of the equipments installed on the roof,' Noman Qamar, project manager at fire protection company Aldes, told Gulf Business. The same skyscraper was devastated by fire in 2015 (pictured left and right) and the building's flammable cladding, which was similar to that used in Grenfell Tower, was blamed for fuelling the flames He added: 'The fire spread rapidly to other parts of the building mainly due to falling debris of the flammable cladding that was used on the tower, which is similar to other incidences that occurred in other residential towers.' The tower's cladding burned downwards in the early hours of Sunday morning, making hundreds of residents homeless, The National reported at the time. The Dubai Police forensic department has released its findings on the fire, which burnt half the building. According to the report, the fire started at the back of the building on the ground floor where the waste material was left by the labourers working on a shop in the building. The waste material contained papers, tapes and woods which fuelled the fire. It is not clear what material was used during repairs to the building.

The incident may revive questions about the safety of materials used on the exteriors of tall buildings across the wealthy Gulf region and beyond.

An investigation by the management of the Torch after its 2015 fire found that most of the damage was to the cladding, exterior panelling used for decoration or insulation.

That blaze ripped through multiple floors of the new building, in the expat-heavy Marina district of the city. Flames shot out from two sides of the building and glass and metal rained down from the skyscraper.

Police in Britain have said they believe the system of insulation and cladding panels added during a refurbishment of London's Grenfell Tower may have contributed to the rapid spread of a fire there in June in which 80 people died.

Experts in the UK have previously voiced concerns that building regulations are unclear on the use of combustible cladding, which paved the way to their use by contractors.

Unlike Grenfell, residents of the Torch were able to escape unharmed. Internal fire alarms and building management sent workers knocking on doors to ensure residents got out.

In contrast, Grenfell residents reported not hearing an alarm. Firefighter also told people to remain in their flats, believing that they could contain the fire.

The UAE revised its building safety code in 2013 to require cladding on all new buildings over 50 feet tall be fire-resistant, but older buildings are exempt. External sprinklers are also being encouraged for new buildings.

Most of Dubai's approximately 250 high-rise buildings use cladding panels with thermoplastic cores, UAE media have reported. Panels can consist of plastic or polyurethane fillings sandwiched between aluminium sheets.

Such cladding is not necessarily hazardous, but it can be flammable under certain circumstances and, depending on a skyscraper's design, may channel fires through windows into the interiors of buildings.

Dubai is one of seven emirates that make up the UAE, where several residential compounds and hotels have been hit by fire in recent years. In some of those cases, experts said the flames may have been encouraged to spread by exterior cladding.

In August 2016 a fire swept through a 28-storey building under construction in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, injuring 13 people, including 10 emergency service personnel.

Earlier that same month, a fire damaged part of a multi-storey building under construction in Dubai and in July 2016 a fire broke out in Dubai's residential 75-storey Sulafa Tower.</s>A large fire broke out in a Dubai high-rise early Friday local time, sending flaming debris raining below and prompting an evacuation, authorities said.

The building known as the Torch Tower was evacuated safely and there were no immediate reports of injuries, the government of Dubai’s media office said on Twitter.

Video showed flames on several floors up the side of the 79-story tower, which is one of the world’s tallest residential buildings.

An Associated Press journalist near the scene of early Friday’s blaze said more than 40 floors of the high-rise tower appeared to be engulfed in flames on one side of the building. Residents of the building could be seen crying with several saying the fire broke just after 1 a.m. (5 p.m. Thursday ET).

The media office said shortly before 4 a.m. that the fire was brought under control and “cooling operations are underway.”

The Torch Tower also caught fire in February of 2015.

A huge fire ripped through another Dubai skyscraper, the 63-floor luxury hotel the Address Downtown hotel, on New Year’s Eve as the years changed from 2015 to 2016, injuring 14 people.

Flames shoot up the sides of the Torch tower residential building in the Marina district, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in this August 4, 2017 picture by Mitch Williams. Mitch WIlliams / Reuters</s>Firefighters have put out a blaze in one of the world's tallest residential towers, which engulfed part of the skyscraper in Dubai and sent chunks of debris plummeting below, city authorities said.

More than 40 floors of the 86-storey Torch Tower were burning on one side of the building, an Associated Press journalist near the scene of the blaze said.

Residents could be seen on the street outside, crying, with several saying the fire broke out just after 1am local time.

Dubai's Civil Defence announced at about 3.30am that firefighters had brought the flames under control and that no injuries had been reported.

"Cooling operations are under way," Dubai's official media office said on Twitter.

It was the second time in two and a half years that the more than 1,100ft-tall (335m) tower has been ravaged by fire.

The tower, located in the popular waterfront Marina district, caught fire in February 2015, but there were no major casualties reported in that blaze.

Early on Friday, authorities shared a photo of the charred and blackened tower but it was no longer visibly in flames. Officials said they were now working on providing shelter for those affected.

Dubai police cordoned off several blocks around the building, keeping people away from the falling debris.

Several skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates have caught fire in recent years, including a towering inferno that engulfed a 63-storey luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year's Eve in 2016. In that blaze, as in others in Dubai in recent years, residents escaped without major injury.

Earlier this year, Dubai passed new fire safety rules requiring buildings with quick-burning side panelling to replace it with more fire-resistant material. Authorities have previously acknowledged that at least 30,000 buildings across the UAE have cladding or panelling that safety experts have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.

A devastating blaze at the Grenfell Tower high-rise block in London in June killed at least 80 people and prompted Britain to order more thorough testing on the cladding systems of its towers.</s>One of the world’s tallest residential towers, Dubai’s Torch Tower, caught ablaze in the early hours of the morning, causing the evacuation of the building’s 676 units and leaving lasting damage to the building and its immediately vicinity

This is the second fire to affect the 79-story building in just two years, raising more questions about safety standards of materials used in highrise construction.

Authorities reported that all residents were successfully evacuated and the fire put under control by 3:40 am local time, largely thanks to the design of the building’s smoke-free egress paths.

"Thank God, there were no casualties because of the efforts of all teams on the ground," said Dubai Police chief Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri.

Designed by architecture firm Khatib & Alami, Torch Tower was completed in 2011, at the time becoming the world’s tallest residential tower. The fire is thought to have spread along the building’s flammable aluminum composite facade panels – the same system thought to be responsible for the escalation of the fire at London’s Grenfell Tower in June. In 2013, the UAE passed new regulations requiring buildings over 15 meters tall to be clad in fire-resistant materials. Buildings built before the new law, however, were not required to make updates.

This is the second fire to hit Dubai’s skyline this year, after a dramatic fire broke out at the under-construction Address Residences Fountain Views towers in April.

Read more about the fire, here.</s>Emergency workers had flames under control at one of the world's tallest residential towers in Dubai, after flames engulfed part of the skyscraper and sent chunks of debris plummeting down to the street below.

Cooling operations have begun at the tower, Gulf News reported. No injuries have been reported, according to Al Arabiya.

The blaze took place at the Torch Tower, located in the popular Marina neighborhood.

“Dubai Civil Defense has successfully evacuated the Torch Tower and is working to bring the fire under control,” Dubai’s official media office said in a tweet.

It is the second major fire to engulf the 86-story tower, which caught fire in early 2015. There were no major casualties reported in that blaze.

An Associated Press journalist near the scene early Friday said more than 40 floors of the high-rise tower appeared to be engulfed in flames on one side of the building. Residents of the building could be seen crying with several saying the fire broke just after 1 a.m.

Dubai police cordoned off the area around the building, keeping people about a block away from scene.

Fires have affected several skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates, including a towering inferno that engulfed a 63-story luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year’s Eve in 2016.

Building and safety experts have cited a popular type of cladding covering the buildings that can be highly flammable.

A devastating tower fire in London in June killed at least 80 people and prompted Britain to order more thorough testing on the cladding systems of its towers.
A fire at the 79-story Dubai Torch Tower in the United Arab Emirates, which forced nighttime evacuations, was under control in a few hours with no serious injuries immediately reported. The building's exterior was still being renovated from a fire in February, 2015, which investigators had blamed, at least in part, to flammable siding, echoing the findings of this past June's Grenfell Tower fire in London.