More than 80 people were being investigated to determine the cause of the fire which gutted the upper floors of the Hajer Tower building in Makkah near the Grand Mosque on Sunday, said Lt. Gen. Saad Al-Tuwajiri, chief of Civil Defense in the Kingdom, said Wednesday. Ongoing investigations are looking into a delay in reporting the fire despite the presence of more than 80 workers on site, he said. His comments came during a joint press conference with the speaker of a French delegation of the civil protection in Riyadh visiting the Civil Defense Institute Wednesday. Although international firefighter conventions would not commit firefighters to a serious fire in a high rise building, the Makkah firefighters bravely battled the blaze for eight hours. Commenting on the absence of aerial firefighting, he said that under the current procedures, only field commander has the authority to request the help of aerial firefighting. When contacted about the fire, chief of aerial firefighting said firefighting helicopters should not be engaged in that high rise building fire as advisable by the international safety regulations on firefighting, Lt. Gen. Al-Tuwajiri said. Fire sparks from the upper floors could have posed an imminent danger to people and the helicopters themselves if fanned by the copters' propellers, he said. An official from the visiting French civil protection team said owners and contractors of high rise buildings should seek professional help and consultation from the civil defense on safety precautions and measures before construction. If no building permit is given, then they should be held accountable, he added. It is not recommended worldwide in this case for firefighting copters to engage in the fire, he said. – Okaz __
