Dubai, Nov 7 (AP) A fire broke out early on Monday at a 35-story high-rise in downtown Dubai near the world's tallest building, racing up the side of the structure in the same way seen in other blazes fuelled by flammable siding material.

A resident at the 8 Boulevard Walk told The Associated Press that the high-rise has cladding that officials planned to replace after a similar blaze tore through an iconic tower on New Year's Eve in 2015. However, that cladding was not replaced across the entire building, said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

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Emaar Properties, the giant state-backed developer behind 8 Boulevard Walk and the nearby Burj Khalifa, which towers over the burned high-rise, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did the city-state's Dubai Media Office.

More than 12 hours after the blaze burned out, Dubai police and civil defence officials still had not acknowledged the inferno that saw fire trucks and rescue vehicles surround the building.

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Fire investigators could be seen by an AP journalist at the site, looking through balconies and pointing out damage from the blaze. A letter sent by Emaar to tenants of the building said “a thorough investigation is underway” into the blaze and that residents only can be let back in after authorities give the all clear.

The fire raced up one side of the building, while other sides appeared untouched. The damage appeared particularly intense around the fourth floor.

The blaze started around 2:30 am, with housekeepers and building guards racing through its floors to check apartments on each floor, the resident said. It wasn't clear if anyone was injured in the fire.

While some types of cladding can be made with fire-resistant material, experts say those that have caught fire in Dubai and elsewhere weren't designed to meet stricter safety standards and often were put onto buildings without any breaks to slow or halt a possible blaze.

That includes the 2017 Grenfell Fire in London that killed 72 people in the greatest loss of life in a fire on British soil since World War II.

Regulations are now in place for new construction in Dubai regarding the cladding. In 2017, a civil defence official said those with flammable cladding on their buildings would “have to change it” under normal maintenance schedules, but it remains unclear if that's been enforced in this city-state, one of seven that comprise the autocratic United Arab Emirates.

On New Year's Eve in 2015, a blaze raced through the Address Downtown, one of the most upscale hotels and residences in Dubai near the Burj Khalifa. Some 15 people were injured in the fire and the evacuation. Dubai police ended up blaming exposed wiring for the blaze.

In September of this year, Orient Insurance lost an appeal for a 1.25 billion dirham (more than USD 340 million) payout to Emaar over the fire after it tried to blame the developer. The judgement said the building cladding might have contributed to the spread of the fire but was not the cause of it.

Emaar stock rose slightly Monday to close at 6.23 dirhams (USD 1.70) a share on the Dubai Financial Market. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)