In the Lagos Island region of Lagos State, the Dosumu Market saw no fewer than fourteen buildings completely destroyed by fire on Tuesday.
Four of the 14 buildings had collapsed as of the time of publication, according to Ibrahim Farinloye, the Lagos Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, who verified the incident over the phone with our correspondent on Tuesday.
Farinloye bemoaned the challenges emergency personnel encountered in reaching some of the impacted areas and laid the blame for the fire’s origin on the irresponsible refueling of a generator in one of the buildings’ penthouses.
“As of right now, the fire has affected fourteen buildings, four of which have collapsed. Our water problems were resolved when we got in touch with the Nigeria Port Authority.
“A man was negligently refueling a generator in the penthouse of one of the buildings when it caught fire and spread to other buildings,” the statement reads. The building contained numerous generators, which made the situation worse.
It was reported that the fire, which broke out on Tuesday at around 10 am, also destroyed a number of items valued at millions of naira.According to reports, the fire began in a three-story building on Jankara Street and then moved to the market’s nearby buildings.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service Director, Margaret Adeseye, confirmed NEMA’s assessment of the affected buildings while providing an update on the incident.She went on to say that the building’s chemical storage facilities in addition to the fuel product storage in the penthouse where the fire originated contributed to the fire’s escalation.
According to Adeseye, “A major fire incident affecting 14 buildings has been successfully contained by the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, with two structures fully collapsed and two partially collapsed.”
The cause was identified as, among other things, refueling a generator at the penthouse of a three-building complex that housed a chemical-filled printing shop. The fuel was stored in kegs there.
She also mentioned that as of the time of this report, the fire had been contained but damping was still in progress.In order to avoid more fires, Adeseye also cautioned the public to exercise caution when handling combustible materials.The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service has been conducting swift firefighting operations.
They have now transitioned to a dampening strategy, mitigating all threats and guaranteeing public safety. A count of lost shops and goods is being conducted, and preventive measures will be enforced.
“At the scene, all of the state’s emergency responders are working together, including those from private and national partners.
To avoid such mishaps, the public is advised to handle combustible materials carefully, according to Adeseye.It was reported on March 21 that NEMA had attributed the lack of a water source to the escalation of a fire incident that consumed four buildings in the Idumota area of the Lagos Island Local Government Area of the state.
This incident appears to be occurring every month.According to Farinloye, the lack of water supply presented a problem for emergency personnel and may have contributed to the fire’s successful containment, limiting its spread and degree of destruction.
He emphasized that the fire trucks had to go in turns to get water because there was no water source close to the fire incident.reportedA popular building on Broad Street in the Lagos Island Local Government Area of the state caught fire in January, destroying the goods of no fewer than 6,700 traders.
In addition, the 14-story building’s 450 stores, 30 offices, two hotels, and five restaurants were completely destroyed by the fire’s aftermath.According to reports, negligent welding during the installation of a power generator on the second floor of the Mandilas building in Lagos resulted in the fire, which began on the first floor of the building and spread to the seventh.
Similar to this, on February 4 it was reported that a plank market at the Awori bus stop in the state’s Abule Egba area caught fire, destroying millions of naira’s worth of goods and properties.
Two pickup vans, two cars, and five minibuses were destroyed in the fire, according to the LSFRS.