Fierce fire in Emirates skyscraper, but no Grenfell drama

In the Emirates, which went from low-rise to very high-rise in a short time, initially there weren’t that many safety regulations. “It was a bit wild west at the beginning,” says Van Mierlo. But the fires in recent years saw hardly any casualties because the fire stays outside longer. You can’t stop such a big fire with sprinklers and fire safety measures, but you can slow it down. “

Van Mierlo’s engineering firm advises on fire safety in high-rise buildings in the Netherlands. Here too there are buildings that do not fully comply with the rules, and not only always the oldest. An inventory is underway among municipalities that need to find out how things are with the cladding of buildings. “There has been more attention in recent years. We also receive ten times as many questions about facades as five years ago.”

It can never be ruled out 100 percent that there are casualties in a building fire. “But we can reduce it as much as possible because of the construction method. This is now being looked at more critically, and even more so in buildings where people sleep than in office buildings.”

However, other considerations also play a part with the builders and project developers. Fireproof materials are often not the cheapest and not always the most durable. Van Mierlo: “It is often not a simple trade-off between cheap and safe. It is mainly a choice of which fire safety measures you spend the most.”

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