Barely 24 hours after fire fighters and other emergency officials put out the fire disaster inside Apongbon market, another trading arena, Dosumu Market, has gone up in flames, with no fewer than four high-rise building collapsed and goods worth millions of Naira destroyed by the inferno in Lagos State.
As gathered, the buildings that caved in were due to intensity of the fire that had continued to rage since it emanated on Tuesday at about 11.10 a.m inside the market in Lagos Island Local Government Area of the state.
It was learnt that the fire disaster emanated from a section of the market and started spreading to adjoining buildings due to high inflammable materials stocked by the traders inside their stores in the affected buildings.
It was further learnt that the fire started from a printing house when the owner identified as Uche, who was said to be refuelling his generator without putting it off.
Eyewitnesses told The Guild that exercise went out of control and spread to other generators on the pent house, from where the fire started spreading.
According to a resident, who did not want his name in disclosed said: “From there, explosions caused scrapnel of fire flying around across the road to adjoining and opposite the building.
The Guild learnt that the fire could have spread beyond the market but the intervention of emergency officials attached to the Lagos State fire service and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) curtailed the inferno from spreading further.
Confirming the development, the Southwest Coordinator for National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye,and the Head, Public Education, Lagos State Fire Service, Amodu Shakiru, disclosed that efforts have been intensified to put it out.
Farinloye added at about 5pm that the fire has been totally contained, saying what is left are pockets of fire under the collapsed buildings which we expect that it burn out.
The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, disclosed that there were no casualities recorded during the inferno.
In a statement made available to newsmen, he said: “On arrival of the Lekki Response Team at the incident scene, it was discovered that a two-storey building, the structure besides it, and two other three-storey buildings behind it, were engulfed by fire at the aforementioned address.
“Immediate cause of the inferno could not be ascertained as at when writing this report, as the fire had swiftly escalated to adjoining buildings within the premises.
“In the cause of the Search, Rescue and Recovery Operation, after due Situation Assessment, LASEMA expanded Response Capacity with additional Teams, manpower and equipment from Onipanu, Cappa Base and the LRU Fire Unit.
“No casualties, nor injuries were recorded at the incident scene, however, while putting out the fire, an adult female collapsed and was promptly attended by Paramedics from the LRU Pre-Hospital Care Unit at the incident scene, before being moved swiftly to Marina General Hospital for continued medical care.
“All emergency responders present at the scene are working together and aggressively combating the fire so as to mitigate the inferno from further spreading to adjourning buildings.
It would be recalled that the Apongbon fire disaster which occurred a few meters away from the scene began at approximately 12:24hrs yesterday.
The Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, stated that the blaze, originating from the second floor of a three-story building primarily housing various hair wigs, prompted a swift and coordinated response from multiple fire crews, including those stationed at Ebute Elefun, Sari Iganmu, Dolphin, and Alausa of the agency, as well as the Federal Fire Service.
According to her, “Despite challenges posed by the difficult terrain and heightened concerns among traders, the fire has been successfully extinguished, preventing its spread to adjacent properties and salvaging what remains of the affected structure.
“There have been no reported casualties, and the cause of the fire is attributed to careless handling of a generator”.
