The Address Hotel in downtown Dubai burst into flames just before the 2016 New Year, lighting up the sky with some unintended fireworks.
Dubai officials have told several media outlets that no one was injured in the blaze, and that a real fireworks display will continue as planned.
At least one person near the hotel described the building as "gone."
On November 11, 2015, Dubai's government purchased 20 yellow-and-orange jetpacks specifically to battle skyscraper fires.
Trouble is, the high-tech contraptions won't arrive until sometime in 2016, according to the BBC — too late to equip brave firefighters, who might have flown up to strategically assist with the Address Hotel blaze. (The jetpacks are intended primarily for search-and-rescue, but seeing how a fire is developing up-close might also help crews fight a blaze.)
The city signed the deal with Martin Jetpack, which sells the jetpacks for $250,000 each, to help first responders protect the area's 916 high-rise buildings, according to Wired.
"Sometimes we have challenges or difficulties to reach the top floors of those buildings," Lt Col Ali Almutawa told the BBC. And when a fire starts in one of Dubai’s skyscrapers, the wind can push it up to the upper floors. (In the case of the Address Hotel, the flames crawled at least 20 stories high.)
The standard Martin Jetpack can climb far higher: to 3,000 feet, according to Wired. Each device contains V4 engines and can reach a top speed of 45 mph.
Watch a video about these potentially life-saving jetpacks below:
