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Qatar mall fire

C

cda

SAWHORSE
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Messages
20,962
Location
Basement
Anyone been to Qatar lately??

Sprinklers or no sprinklers???

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47591317/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

updated 5/28/2012 2:10:37 PM ET

Fire in upscale Qatar mall kills 19, including 13 children

Reuters

DOHA, Qatar — At least 19 foreigners, including 13 children, were killed in a fire that ripped through an upscale shopping mall in Qatar on Monday, the country's interior ministry said.

Four of the dead children were Spanish, diplomatic sources in Madrid said.

In was not immediately clear what caused the blaze at the Villagio Mall in Doha's west end and Qatar's interior ministry said an investigation was under way.

"There don't seem to have been any fire alarms or sprinklers at the mall," a relative of a 2-year-old child who died in the fire told Reuters, speaking by phone from Qatar's Hamad hospital.

Stringer*/*Reuters

Firefighters work to put out a fire at the Villagio Mall.

Smoke was seen billowing from the mall, which was evacuated. Ambulances and police vehicles blocked entry to the complex.

A ministry official told journalists none of the dead were Qataris. Four of the dead adults were teachers and the other two were civil defense personnel, the official said. Seventeen people were also wounded, including four children, the official added.

Opened 2006

http://www.villaggioqatar.com/index.php/about/the-story-of-villaggio

This says malfunctioning sprinklers;;;

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Qatar-says-13-children-among-dead-in-mall-fire-3579495.php?cmpid=twitter
 
Sheik Abdullah said all buildings in the country abide by safety requirements, but a special committee will nonetheless be set up to monitor building safety standards.

Little late now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Why is it that when buildings without sprinklers burn the fire officials say that sprinklers would have saved lives, yet when they burn with sprinklers and people die they always say "the sprinklers malfunctioned?

Thick smoke and heat hindered rescue efforts, as did a lack of floor plans and malfunctioning sprinkler systems, the ministry said on Twitter¹
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Maye they should have read that How To article about cleaning their sprinkler heads?

¹ http://www.chron.com/news/article/Qatar-says-13-children-among-dead-in-mall-fire-3579495.php?cmpid=twitter
 
""""""""""malfunctioning sprinkler systems,"""""""""

as in not installed???

not installed correctly??

as in shut off???

do you have the stats of people killed in a sprinkled building??

do you have the stats of how many heads normally activate to control a fire???
 
villagio+Mall+qatar.jpg


5922412803_a6a6a5d868_z.jpg


villaggio mall qatar

I don't see any sprinklers....Doesn't mean they don't have any, but I don't see any sprinklers....
 
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mark handler said:
The I-codes require Sprinklers in those occupancies, looks like the locals knew better and omited the Sprinkler requirements
Click to expand...
I think its more a case of Qatar omitting the I-Codes. The ICC used to do this with Florida back when the FBC was based on SBC.

Since SBC was merged into IBC, Florida was using IBC.
 
mark handler said:
villagio+Mall+qatar.jpg
5922412803_a6a6a5d868_z.jpg


villaggio mall qatar

I don't see any sprinklers....Doesn't mean they don't have any, but I don't see any sprinklers....
Click to expand...
Maybe they spent the sprinkler budget on that really fancy water tank
 
I've recently been to several malls in Bahrain and Cairo, Egypt. All were fully sprinklered. One of them had airport type security (bag xray and walk through metal detectors) to get in.
 
[F] 903.2.7 Group M.

An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout buildings containing a Group M occupancy where one of the following conditions exists:

1. A Group M fire area exceeds 12,000 square feet (1115 m2). YES

2. A Group M fire area is located more than three stories above grade plane. UNKNOWN

3. The combined area of all Group M fire areas on all floors, including any mezzanines, exceeds 24,000 square feet (2230 m2). YES

4. A Group M occupancy used for the display and sale of upholstered furniture or mattresses exceeds 5,000 square feet (464 m2).UNKNOWN

[F] 402.5 Automatic sprinkler system.

Covered and open mall buildings and buildings connected shall be protected throughout with an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 903.3.1.1, which shall comply with the all of the following:

1. The automatic sprinkler system shall be complete and operative throughout occupied space in the mall building prior to occupancy of any of the tenant spaces. Unoccupied tenant spaces shall be similarly protected unless provided with approved alternative protection. UNKNOWN

2. Sprinkler protection for the mall of a covered mall building shall be independent from that provided for tenant spaces or anchor buildings.UNKNOWN

3. Sprinkler protection for the tenant spaces of an open mall building shall be independent from that provided for anchor buildings.UNKNOWN

4. Sprinkler protection shall be provided beneath exterior circulation balconies located adjacent to an open mall.UNKNOWN

5. Where tenant spaces are supplied by the same system, they shall be independently controlled.

UNKNOWN
 
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From today:

'Electric fault' started deadly Qatar fireInvestigation into shopping centre blaze, which left 19 people dead, finds major safety and emergency response flaws.

An initial investigation into a fire at a shopping centre in Qatar which left 19 dead, including 13 children, has concluded that the blaze was started by an electricity problem with a faulty spotlight.

The Qatar Special Higher Committee concluded its week-long investigation into the fire on Wednesday, saying there was negligence by the security team overseeing the Villaggio shopping complex in promptly responding to the incident.

The committee also said there were no plans in place to deal with an emergency on that scale and that staff of the shopping centre were not trained to cope with the possibility of a fire.

All 19 people killed in the inferno at Villagio's Gympanzee child care centre on May 28 were foreigners, they comprised two fire fighters, 13 children and four female teachers.

The committee found that the child care centre was not licensed by the ministry of Social Affairs, as required by Qatari law.

It therefore did not have the safety measures in place that are required for a nursery.

The investigation committee said the fire was not premeditated and concluded there was "a status of lack of adherence to required laws, systems, and measure by all concerned parties to different degree".

"This includes adherence to design, license, and safety conditions, which contributed to Villaggio Mall catastrophe," the investigators said.

The investigation concluded that the fire started at the upper floor of a Nike sports goods store after an electricity problem caused a faulty spotlight to catch fire.

The fire was "due to a faulty electrical wiring in a fluorescent light," a statement by the committee said, explaining that the plastic components of the lighting fixture caught fire which rapidly spread as smoke spread to the adjacent nursery.

An employee at the Nike store and a security guard failed to put out the fire after they were the first ones to see smoke arising from the upper level of the shop, the committee said.

Civil defence workers arrived at the scene three minutes after being alerted to the fire, but only discovered half an hour later that there there were children trapped in the nursery.

The technical committee also found shortcomings in the response of the security team at Villaggio, including employees at the Nike store, adding that the lack of good plans to deal with an emergency limited their abilities to contain the fire.

Furthermore, the investigation concluded there was a lack of co-ordination between government agencies responsible for public safety and there were gaps in safety and firefighting requirements.

The investigators could also not confirm the existence of firefighting water cannons at the Nike store.

]Al Jazeera[/urlRecommendations

The committee recognised the shortcomings that the fire laid bare were not limited to Gympanzee and Villaggio and that there were other public buildings in Doha which do not adhere to required public safety laws.

It issued 11 recommendations to prevent or reduce risk of similar incidents in the future.

Among them would be a review of regulations governing the activities of baby care facilities, which allows nurseries to register under different names, such as activity centres.

Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Qatari heir apparent, has referred the committee recommendations to the Qatari council of ministers for review and immediate implementation, the committee said.

The committee only investigated the technical cause of the blaze, leaving the criminal part to public prosecutors.
Click to expand...
 
Boy same problem round the world

"""Among them would be a review of regulations governing the activities of baby care facilities, which allows nurseries to register under different names, such as activity centres.""""

Nah it's not a day care, they just have fun here

And is a water cannon a fire extinguisher or fire spinkler system????
 
The fire was "due to a faulty electrical wiring in a fluorescent light," a statement by the committee said, explaining that the plastic components of the lighting fixture caught fire which rapidly spread as smoke spread to the adjacent nursery.
Click to expand...
So why is plastic allowed in lighting systems?
 
conarb said:
So why is plastic allowed in lighting systems?
Click to expand...
Plastics are typically electrically nonconductive and shatterproof.

It would be hard to build one without using plastic or rubber insulation on the wiring etc.
 
So why is plastic allowed in lighting systems

It all started with mrs. Robinson!!!!

Should have invested in plastic back than

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
 
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