Under the patronage of H.H.Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed ALNahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of Interior, and the participation of Maj.Gen. Expert Rashid Thani ALMatrooshi,Director General of Dubai Civil Defence, Dubai Civil Defence has conducted the sixth annual Fire safety Technology Forum. Brig. Ahmed Ubaid ALSayegh, Assist. Director for fire &rescue, Col. Hassan Ali Bin Hassram, Director of UmmalQuain Civil Defence , representatives of regional Civil Defence departments, Directors of Dubai Civil Defence internal departments along with fire products manufacturing, installation and maintenance companies’ directors were attended also.

The sixth version for this year held under the slogan: (Innovative recovery from High rise accidents), based on the intensive analysis carried by Civil Defence on recent High rise buildings fires accidents, and the continuous investigation processes to detect their causes, internal/external impacting factors, and global public concern associated with them , and based as well on successful achievement of Civil Defence’s rescue and fighting operations, and further to assert the importance of periodical review of latest technologies by Civil Defence and its ongoing keenness to develop best practices and applications.

In his speech delivered at the forum, Maj.Gen.Expert ALMatrooshi ,Director of Dubai Civil Defence, titled ( Key enablers to ensure Civil Defence organization success) Said:

Vast development witnessed by Civil Defence major and supportive operations, and its sustainable effectiveness are considered essential enablers in delivering best services to customers and partners successfully.


He further added:

Key enablers include many factors led by ( Emirates fire & Life safety code of practice) which was issued, implemented, and updated based on a number of legislative backgrounds, such as federal law No 23of 2006, which regulates Civil Defence work, ministers council decision No 24 of 2012 pertaining violations fines, and ministry of interior executive decision No 505 of 2012, which identifies safety threating violations and subsequent fines for each violation, and that has helped to enhance safety measures in buildings and establishments. In addition to, the implementation of 24x7 system, which was put in place in 2008, as a strategic scheme ensuring safety in buildings and establishments, by connecting them electronically to central operations room, and in case of any fire or lift fault, fire teams will immediately respond when electronic signals arrive to operations room. According to this scheme, about 56,921 building and establishments are provided with electronic firefighting systems, 44,277 buildings are already linked to operations room, and about 8,284 are still underway.

Intelligence deductive system is another enabler, which allows fire teams to reach incident scene via shortest cut and in less possible time. While smart home project which is considered complementing the smart system scheme (24x7dcd), is used to directly connect the villas to DCD’s central operations room, so any accident once occurred is reported via a hot line, which instantaneously provides all information required by Civil Defence teams to reach to the scene in the minimum response time.

Community preventive awareness campaigns aiming at increasing awareness level and embeds individual safety behavior form together with (758) evacuation drills conducted during 2015 an important factor in making the community prime partner in safety industry, as safety for all cannot be realized without participation from all.

Standard operating procedures (SOP’s) is deemed essential in the field of fighting fires for governance of incident scene procedures, and empower commanders and fire teams to effectively manage the accident with minimal possible loss, plus optimum investment in human resources.

Then, He talked about Address hotel fire experience, pointing out the challenges associated with accident, such as existence of 3000 people in the hotel, huge crowd around the hotel, fire spreading in more than one place, high wind speed, fire in upper stories and the extensive international media coverage.

Sixth Fire Safety Technology Forum has commenced its work with a study on (Shilly towers fire &lessons learnt ) prepared and presented by Mark Yates, chief fire officer and vice chairman CFOA , then ( Incident response time – the context of public education and collaboration) delivered by Barry Lynham, President Fire Safe Europe, followed by ( Tall building Firefighting , An Australian Perspective) presented by Justin Francis , Senior Officer- Queensland Fire & Rescue, then ( Fire Safe Façade: Regulating for Resilience) presented by Stephen Little Battalion Officer – Chicago Fire Department and finally ( High Rise Firefighter Air Replenishment System) delivered by Gary Morris, Fire Chief I Pine –Strawberry Fire District.

Participating fire companies displayed their products on the sideline of the forum. The number of the speakers of the forum since its early start in 2011 till now is estimated at 40,1500 participants and 100 displayers. Participants include public and private sectors representing various countries such as UAE,Gulf Countries,UK,USA,Canada, France, Italy, Greece and Hong Kong.

Dubai Civil Defence main topics discussed are

2011 – Best International Practices and technological applications

2012- Recovery from High-rises fires

2013- Civil Defence - & Civic Society Preparation to Minimize Crisis Risks

2014- Civil Defence & Community Awareness Culture

2015- Civil Defence & Crisis Limitation Under Sustainable Development

2016- Innovation in Recovery from High-rises fires