100% of Dubai homes are insured with “Hasantuk” within 3 years

The Commander-in-Chief of Civil Defense in Dubai, Lieutenant General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, revealed that all homes in Dubai will be 100% insured with the “Hasantuk” system within three years.

Al Matrooshi told Emirates Al Youm that the leadership is responsible for “proactive prevention” within the Dubai government’s 2030 strategy, ensuring that the fire accident index is reduced to be the lowest in the world, and that community awareness of this type of risk is increased.

He stated that there is a great development in the application of protection systems for homes and residential buildings in the emirate, to ensure the protection of lives through an advanced system connected to the civil defense operations room, preventing exposure to the risk of smoke suffocation during sleep, which is the most prominent cause of death in fire accidents, and protecting property through an insurance umbrella at a nominal price, covering home maintenance for about 1.5 million dirhams, and providing alternative housing. For two weeks.

In detail, Lieutenant General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi said, in an interview with “Emirates Today”, that the General Command of Civil Defense is responsible for the “Preemptive Prevention” axis before the Executive Office of the Government of Dubai, within the Dubai Strategy 2030, and is moving in two parallel directions. The first is to provide proactive prevention for all facilities, homes and buildings, by conducting daily surveys by fire brigades for all areas of jurisdiction, on the basis of which risks or maintenance work are identified. In the case of buildings, the higher the efficiency of the analysis, the more quickly and effectively Civil Defense can deal.

He added that the second trend is the readiness for the massive population development and urban expansion in the emirate, which requires the expansion of centers and full readiness to deal with the current and expected growth.

Al Matrooshi pointed out that the General Command of Civil Defense has an indicator to measure the percentage of facilities’ compliance with preventive safety requirements, pointing out that the compliance rate has currently reached 78%, and work is being done to increase the indicator continuously.

He explained that the measurement process according to the index depends on surveying the entire building, and ensuring that the exits, entrances, and protection systems meet safety requirements, stressing that all these efforts come within the framework of the leadership’s responsibility for “preemptive prevention” in the emirate.

Regarding the “Hasantuk” system, Al Matrooshi said that there are two main goals of civil defense work, which are protecting lives and protecting property. Then comes the importance of the role of “Hasantuk,” because it reduces major risks that are among the common causes of fire deaths, such as suffocation during sleep due to smoke.

He stated that there were challenges facing the administration at the beginning of implementing the “Hasantuk” system. The procedures were relatively complex, and some did not understand the idea of ​​linking homes to the Civil Defense Operations Room, in addition to the unwillingness of a group of them to bear the cost of implementing the systems. He pointed out that these challenges need solutions, given that homes are the buildings most exposed to fires, and although they are minor accidents in most cases, they represent a danger to people. Spirits.

He continued that the General Command of Civil Defense overcame these problems with a package of solutions, the first of which was stabilizing the prices of systems, especially smoke and heat detectors, and making their installation available to all companies, under the direct supervision of the administration.

He explained that the current system has important features. It works using Bluetooth technology, which connects devices located throughout the house. As soon as a rise in temperature or smoke is detected, a strong and annoying alarm is issued in all rooms, until everyone wakes up and leaves the house. In this way, the guarantee of protecting lives has been achieved.

As for property protection, the administration coordinated with three insurance companies to provide insurance cover for homes within the “Hasantuk” system, at a small nominal price of 200 dirhams annually, under which the insurance company bears the maintenance of the house if it is exposed to a fire, at a cost of up to one million and 500 thousand dirhams, and provides alternative housing for the family for two weeks, in coordination with the Community Development Authority.

He stressed that according to the agreed upon plan and the strategy of the Dubai government, 100% of the homes in the emirate will be insured with the “Hasantuk” system within three years, pointing out that the government has actually sponsored the first batch of low-income people, and the system has been installed in about 11,000 homes.

For her part, Afaf Al Muhairi, Director of the Strategy and Future Department at the Civil Defense in Dubai, said that the mechanism for implementing the “Hasantuk” system according to the current strategy is divided into three types according to the buildings, the first for new homes, so cooperation was carried out with the relevant government departments to ensure the compulsory installation of the system and the issuance of a completion certificate for that.

She added that the second type includes rented buildings, and coordination has been made with the Land Department so that the house cannot be rented without installing the system, noting that the third type includes old buildings, and work is currently underway through the Marketing Department to provide them with the “Hasantuk” system, so that the installation rates in all homes in the emirate reach 100% during the next three years.

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A global achievement in the fastest time to ascend Burj Khalifa

The General Command of Civil Defense in Dubai recorded a global achievement by being included in the Guinness Book of World Records, after a team of civil defense men achieved a record of 52 minutes 30 seconds, the fastest time to ascend Burj Khalifa (the tallest tower in the world), which consists of 159 floors, via stairs, while wearing the full uniform of a firefighter suit, whose total weight, along with the oxygen cylinder, reached 15 kilograms.

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%50 reduction in control time

Lieutenant General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi said that the indicators of dealing with fire incidents by the General Command of Civil Defense in Dubai have become more than excellent, thanks to the modernization of capabilities and systems, noting that the rate of response and transition to incidents is among the fastest in the world, and in return the control time has decreased by up to 50%.

He added that the possibilities include the use of robots to deal with incidents that were complex in the past, such as warehouse fires, in addition to modified, environmentally friendly foam materials, which help in quickly controlling fires, which reduces the operational cost, despite their high price compared to usual materials.

He pointed out that, in parallel with the smart systems, the leadership was keen to develop the human cadre, providing training programs at the highest level, and keen to attract young personnel, given the nature of the profession that requires them to have exceptional fitness and abilities.

He continued that the leadership was recently keen to develop its centers in a way that matches the cultural appearance of the Emirate of Dubai, so it changed its visual identity for the old centers, and also strengthened their nature from the traditional concept of civil defense to become community service centers.

It is noteworthy that the General Command of Civil Defense in Dubai launched several initiatives recently, within the activities of the “GITEX Global 2025” exhibition, which included the “Shaheen 2” drone system, which has proven great efficiency in dealing with high-rise tower fires, the most recent of which is a fire in a tower in the Al Barsha area, in addition to the “strong arm” of firefighters, which adds 40% to the strength of the human staff, and helps them climb quickly. To the upper floors, its ability to carry casualties, evacuation and combat operations is enhanced.