There Goes Another High Rise in UAE

The two guys in the photo are betting on when the fire will reach the top.

Is this just stupidity (Tacoma Narrows revisited) or is there something else going on? Is there something we should be aware of? If the flame retardant chemicals added to polystyrene out-gas or break down in the desert heat then this is informative. If the drawings specified flame retardant polystyrene but the contractor use recycled styrofoam coffee cups then it is understood. Otherwise we are left not knowing if this is sad, funny or stupid.

I have seen numerous 1 and 2 story buildings in Florida wrapped in styrofoam. I remember a few years ago a Las Vegas hotel had the decorative trim work at the top burning and hard to put out. Do we in the US (or our friends in other countries) also wrap high rise buildings in styrofoam or do we have limits on where it can be used?

Stupid.

In most developed countries, the codes for high rise address this particular problem.

• There is a limit to the type of product you can put on the facade in terms of its calorie content. So that fire will not self propogate.
• There is a distance (cumulated horizontal and vertical) that flames have to go to reach the next opening. So you can't get fire from the inside of one level to the inside of the next level via an external path.
• Generally, every two floors, there is a fire break to prevent the fire propogating between the cladding and the building.

What seems to have occurred here is that the calorie content of the facade is too high and that there is no effective barrier between levels. The same problem occurred on the other high rises.It took a few accidents like this for the europeans to wake up to this problem and take effective action. It may be the same for the UAE.

Just last week my wife was talking to me about the cumulative horizontal and vertical calorie content of my facade and how it was self propagating ...

Actually that is an interesting answer. You don't want to outlaw polystyrene, especially for decorative features. On short buildings the outer walls are not much of a problem. If the water spray does not put the fire out then the high pressure water will blow it off. If you have a tall building and add in the unusual updrafts and wind patterns in a "concrete jungle" it seems pretty tricky.

I believe that such codes are in place, but ignored.

Probably some off spec material made in China just like the laminate flooring that has been in news lately for high levels of formaldehyde.

Dubai: where you have money to burn.

Sorry, I just couldn't help being "Snarky" on this one....