2024-05-02T08:05:41-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/72353499/fire-fears-for-gulf-s-high-rise-blocks Nam Henderson 2013-05-02T11:28:00-04:00 >2013-05-02T11:29:34-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/9i/9ixxbvzeu57c6dl9.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>One expert in the UAE has estimated that 70% of the high-rise buildings there have panel facade cladding made of a combustible thermoplastic core held between two sheets of aluminium.</p></em><br /><br /><p> Bill Law, a BBC Gulf news analyst, writes about how fears of a "towering inferno" disaster in the Gulf are growing after fires left residential buildings heavily damaged in the United Arab Emirates cities of Sharjah and Dubai. The panels have been prohibited in the UK and USA for some time and the f flammable facades, and the UAE has passed recent legislation banning their use. However,&nbsp;&nbsp;"<strong>at least 500 buildings</strong>" in UAE cities are already sheathed in the flammable panels.</p>