Dubai Torch Tower: Fire Sweeps Through One of the World's Tallest Apartment Towers
— -- Security guards inside one of the world's tallest residential towers ran from apartment to apartment as fire alarms blared, calling for those inside to evacuate the building as part of it burned.
Kathryn Dickie, who lives on the 13th floor of The Torch in Dubai, told ABC News that the fire alarms began going off about 2 a.m. local time Saturday.
"The guards were pretty frantic," she said.
Dickie said residents believed the fire began near the 51st floor of the 1,100-foot-tall tower. She ran to a friend's apartment nearby, where they watched firefighters battle the blaze.
"You can actually see the flames being pushed out by the fire hoses," she said.
From her friend's apartment, Dickie saw flaming debris fall to the ground and continue smoldering. She estimated that there were at least ten fire trucks outside the tower, where about 2,000 people live.
Dickie, from Australia, said she has lived in Dubai for about one-and-a-half years, where she does business development for a law firm.
Dickie posted a video about 4:20 a.m. local time showing the fire going out. The blaze appeared to be extinguished a few hours after it began, reports The Associated Press.
Dubai's police chief, Maj. Gen. Khamis Mattar al-Muzeina, said that firefighters put out the blaze before it caused serious damage.
A number of people who suffered minor injuries were treated by ambulance crews at the tower, he said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
The tower was completed in 2011 and has 79 floors above ground.
Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, population 9.3 million, is home to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, which stands 2,716.5 feet tall and more than 160 stories, according to its website.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
