Fire guts building at Banana Island
Two separate fire incidents were quelled yesterday in Lagos even as the state has in less than two weeks recorded five major incidents with properties worth millions of naira lost, Daily Trust reports.
The two fire incidents on Sunday happened at number 25, Oyemekun street, Ifako, Ogba in Ikeja while the second incident occurred in the highbrow Banana Island.
The state Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said the quick response by the emergency responders saved the affected buildings from being totally consumed.
It would be recalled that penultimate Tuesday, there was an inferno at the popular Balogun market on Lagos Island where a six-storey plaza with many bales of cloths and other items were lost. 500 meters to the market, another fire was recorded at a threestorey building.
Also on Friday of the same week, another major fire rocked Oko Baba Plank market at Ebute-Metta.
Also last week, another three-storey building near the popular Tejuosho market in Yaba, was gutted by fire. The building was later pulled down as it was weakened by the impact of the fire.
Speaking on yesterday’s fire incidents, Director-General/CEO of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi OkeOsanyintolu, said fire at Oyemekun gutted the upper floor of the duplex.
He said it did not spread beyond that floor due to the prompt arrival of LASEMA response team which got there in record time to put out the fire.
Preliminary investigations conducted at the incident scene indicated that the fire broke out from the air conditioner installed in a studio at the top floor of the building.
The other incident was reported at Close 223 Living Gold in Banana Island, according to LASEMA.
The prompt arrival of the response team which quickly curtailed the inferno prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the house.
The fire, according to LASEMA, in a statement by the spokesman, Nosa Okunbor, was caused by a power surge from Air-conditioner units.
Speaking on the incessant fire incidents in recent times, Oke-Osanyintolu said LASEMA investigations revealed that a large percentage of the fire outbreaks was due to man-made errors and power surges.
He said some of the fire incidents were preventable by observing simple precautionary measures such as complete disengagement of domestic appliances from power sources and purchase of appropriate and well positioned fire extinguishers.