Goods and property worth millions of naira have been destroyed after a fire razed seven apartments in a residential area in Zamfara State, displacing families and plunging the community into mourning.
The massive fire reportedly started around 8:40 a.m. from one apartment and quickly spread to other parts of the building.
Among the affected apartments were those belonging to an elderly woman identified as Hajiya, a state firefighter employee, and a newly completed building prepared for a bride who was scheduled to move in with her new family the following day.
It was gathered that the bride had just arranged the apartment in anticipation of her wedding, which was to take place a day after the incident.
“It was just yesterday we brought all her belongings and arranged everything for their married life to begin tomorrow, but everything was completely destroyed by the fire,” her brother said.
According to an eyewitness, the fire began in Hajiya’s apartment before spreading to the adjoining units.
“One of the apartments belonged to the oldest woman in the compound, Hajiya. That’s where the fire began. When we arrived, the flames were massive. We poured water, but it only got worse — like we added fuel,” said a resident, Dan Sokoto.
Sokoto noted that although firefighters arrived on time, technical faults in their trucks delayed efforts to put out the flames saying for over an hour, they battled to fix the trucks.
Recounting the incident on Friday, Hajiya explained that she was inside her apartment when the fire began and pointed to her ceiling.
“It started in the ceiling. Though I cannot say exactly what caused it, I heard a sound like something exploded up there,” she said.
While some residents claimed that the state’s emergency services failed to act promptly despite being alerted early, the Executive Secretary of the Zamfara Fire Service, Bello Sani, confirmed the incident but insisted that his team responded without delay.
He, however, acknowledged that technical issues with the fire trucks hindered immediate efforts to extinguish the blaze.
