A wave of fire incidents swept through
parts of Lagos between Thursday and Friday destroying shops, warehouses
and residential buildings at Marina, Ilasamaja and Kirikiri areas of the
state.
The Marina fire, which started at about
4am on Friday, destroyed a row of shops stocked with clothes at the
popular Mandilas building in Lagos Island before it spread to other
adjoining shops as the Lagos State Fire Service men battled to put it
out.
At least 10 shops constructed with a combination of metals and planks were destroyed in the fire.
The Kirikiri fire began from a warehouse stocked with large tyres and tubes meant for articulated vehicles.
According to the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasaq Fadipe, three warehouses were destroyed in the incident.
He said, “Our men started fighting the
fire since Thursday afternoon and are still there right now (as of
Friday morning). You know tyre is made with petrochemicals which make
them fuel on their own.
“The tyres were stacked and stored in
such a way that there was no ventilation at all in the three warehouses
destroyed. The rooms were packed tight and there were no window.
“We believe that the fire might have
broken out when excessive heat was generated as a result of the absence
of ventilation in the warehouses.”
Feelib learnt that the
fire at Ilasamaja started at about 1.35 am on Friday, destroying 20
apartments made up of 12 rooms and eight adjoining quarters on 3,
Adegbite Street.
One of the tenants living in the house,
Obi Christopher, said he lost all his belongings including certificates
and other vital documents.
He said, “I was not around when the fire
started; it was my brother who called to inform me about the incident.
When I got home and saw the fire. I was heartbroken. I have yet to get
over the shock. I lost all my properties including all my documents and
cash.”
Damilola, one of the children of the landlord, Mr. Adekunle Olaniyan, tolds source
that the situation could have been salvaged had the fire service
responded promptly and well prepared. She confirmed that nothing could
be saved from the entire building.
“Around 2:00am when we noticed the fire,
we called the fire service through the emergency number but it took a
while before they came. When the first truck came, there was no water
inside it. It was later another truck came from Daleko but it had only
little water inside it.
“We could not save even a pin. We lost
everything. But if the fire service had responded quickly, we could have
saved some of our belongings. We are pleading to the government to
please help us because we don’t have anywhere else to lay our heads,”
she added.
The fire incidents came three days after
a similar incident broke out at the popular Balogun market in which no
fewer than four people were said to have died.
Asked what strategies were being put in
place to prevent recurrence, Fadipe said residents should take advantage
of the emergency numbers, 767 and 112 in case of any outbreak.
He said, “We will respond at any time of
the day. The state government has provided us with 32 new digitalised
fire equipment which include two area ladders that can fight fire in a
building as high as 13 floors.
“You must understand that as a result of
the harmattan, there is likelihood of fire incidents but we are
prepared for any emergency.
“The Lagos State Government has embarked
on the rehabilitation of fire hydrants in the state, so there will not
be any issue of water scarcity. We have enough 10,000-capacity tankers
to fight any fire.”