A STOCKTON businessman has told how it was down to ‘luck’ that he and hundreds of others were able to escape the Dubai skyscraper inferno with their lives.
Richard Upshall was dining with friend, jockey, model and William Hill racing pundit Leonna Mayor in a restaurant at The Address building on New Year’s Eve when fire broke out.
The blaze quickly took hold, with several floors of the 63-storey structure engulfed in flames as revellers prepared to welcome in 2016.
One person is reported to have died after suffering a heart attack and 14 others were injured. But despite the scale of the fire, city authorities decided to continue with the celebrations.
Mr Upshall, executive chairman of the Stockton-based OES Oilfield Services Group, is based in the United Arab Emirates for six months of the year.
He had chosen to eat at the restaurant as it offered prime viewing for the fireworks display at the nearby Burj Khalifa building – the world’s tallest artificial structure.
Speaking to The Northern Echo from his home, Mr Upshall recalled what happened.
“We were on the sixth floor in a restaurant called CUT, which is a steakhouse directly opposite the Burj Khalifa,” he said. “We were eating dinner around 9.30pm and noticed some people in the garden below us start pointing at the side of the building. Looking up the building we could see a little bit of white smoke and what looked like a flickering of flame.
“But we assumed it was something to do with a precursor for the firework display. Then when the people started screaming and running away we suddenly realised that this probably wasn’t the case.
“Then a very large piece of debris on fire dropped down into the garden, setting fire to other bits and pieces around it and that’s when I decided we were leaving. I grabbed hold of my friend and said ‘let’s get out of here’.”
Contrary to reports elsewhere, Mr Upshall described the evacuation of the restaurant as completely calm.
“We looked around. It was quite surreal as you can imagine,” he said. “I just said ‘let’s just get out of here because something is not right’ and we turned around to see other pieces of debris dropping down.”
Worryingly, Mr Upshall said there was nothing to let anyone know what was going on.
“There were no fire alarms, fire marshals or anything,” he said. “A guy was trying to activate the fire alarm, but it wouldn’t. We went down two flights of stairs, got down to the hotel lobby on the fourth floor, went outside what would have been the front of the hotel, waited for a moment again and started to see activity as people started to move. But there was no sign of police, fire service or anything like that.”
While outside, Mr Upshall said his thoughts turned to what might be the cause of the fire.
“We decided not to go where the crowds were gathering for the simple reason that it could have been some kind of attack and they were trying to get everybody together in one place,” he said. “We headed further away from the melee and watched what transpired. Finally, the fire department arrived. It was fairly orderly. There was some shrieking and what have you going on, but people were wandering around the side of the hotel videoing it.”
Mr Upshall was critical of both the safety measures inside the building and the actions of the authorities.
“The most disturbing thing was the fire alarms weren’t going and the response time was incredibly poor,” he said. “As far as I was concerned it was luck and nothing to do with anyone else that everybody got out.
“The other fortunate thing was where this hotel is was nowhere near where all the major crowds were. They were the other side, 500 to 600 metres away, and I think that kind of saved the day as well.”
Friends and family who knew Mr Upshall was in the vicinity of the fire were able to keep in touch via Facebook.
“Thank God for social media,” he said. “I put a status up within a few minutes that myself and the girl who was with me were safe.”
Mr Upshall has watched New Year’s celebrations at iconic venues such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but in his time in Dubai has not seen the Burj Khalifa display ‘up close and personal’.
“This year was the year to book a nice spot and we did have a fantastic spot but fate saw otherwise. It was a bit too close,” he said. “Looking back, I do feel quite fortunate that we did get out. The Dubai authorities can claim all the kudos they want, but I do think it was incredibly lucky.”
The full article can be read here.