Fire guts 19 shops in Lagos market

No fewer than 19 shops were burnt and goods worth millions of naira were destroyed on Thursday when fire engulfed the Olowu Spare Parts Market in the Ikeja area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the fire started at midnight.

It was later put out through the joint efforts of emergency responders, including men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services.

The spokesperson for the agency, Amodu Shakiri, said a call was made to the Ikeja Fire Station at about 3.19am.

He said, “We got there in three minutes of the call time. Unfortunately, we lost 19 shops. The owners of the shops along the street all trade in combustible materials. Most of them are condensers for refrigerators, air conditioners and the like.

“All these are volatile combustibles. It aided the widespread of the fire but we were able to curtail it in time so that we did not record further losses.

“We also asked Alausa Station to join us. Despite the combustibles that were involved, there was no injury because the traders were not around.”

It was further gathered that some of the traders rushed to the scene of the fire early in the morning to salvage remnants of their goods.

Shakiri, however, attributed the fire to power disruption.

He said, “The cause is basically negligence because some people probably left their electronics on before they left the shop or maybe as a result of power disruption.

“People are advised to always switch off their electronic devices and installations. It should also be unplugged from the wall socket when closing for the day.”

The Coordinator of the Lagos Territorial Office of National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, on his part, said the fire affected 13 shops, four warehouses and one restaurant.

He, however, said no injury or death was recorded in the fire.

Farinloye said, “A fire outbreak at Olowu Automobile Spare Parts Market was recorded early this (Thursday) morning.

“The fire disaster which was reported to have started at about 2.30am affected 13 shops, four warehouses and one restaurant.

“The Commandant 9th Brigade, Ikeja met the NEMA team while he was on an assessment visit to the scene. The cause of the fire cannot be determined as of now.

“But the Chairman of the trader association, Bassey Ikpendu while narrating the situation applauded the efforts of the State Fire Service that prevented the escalation of the incident due to the combustible materials that were involved.

“The chairman narrated that one of their apprentices slept in the building and noticed the fire but by the time he got out, the chairman said, the fire had engulfed the building and immediately fire service was contacted which responded promptly.

“No injury or death was recorded.”