Property worth millions of Naira were on the early hour of Thursday destroyed by fire in Ondo town, headquarters of Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo state.
The fire which razed and destroyed the automobile spare parts started in the early hour of Thursday while all efforts to put off the fire were not successful, burning down many items beyond recognition.
A shop owner explained that the fire was discovered early but it later got out of hand in the morning, saying shop owners have lost millions of Naira to the inferno.
But a source disclosed to Nigerian Tribune that the inferno was caused by a high voltage of electricity brought by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, saying that people in the area called the men of the Ondo State Fire Service on the telephone but they did not show up.
Another shop owner, Alhaji Hassan Adewale, expressed sadness over the incident, disclosing that he had lost almost everything in his shop to the inferno. He called on the state government and the intervention agencies to assist him.
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He said, ” I left the shop at about 7:30 pm yesterday ( Wednesday) and was called upon by sympathisers, informing me that my shop was on fire, caused by the high voltage of electricity brought by the BEDC, which resulted to an explosion that affected the shops.
” Immediately, I called the fire service to our rescue but they did not respond, they said their vehicle was bad.”
However, there was no loss of life in the inferno.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) Mr Femi Joseph confirmed the incident, saying the command had commenced an investigation into the incident.
Joseph said, ” The fire started at about 10 pm yesterday and burnt till this morning but we can’t quantify the level of the damage now but there was no life lost in the fire outbreak.”
In a reaction, the Chairman of the Ondo West Local Government, Mr Ebenezer Akinsulere, who said he had visited the scene of the fire outbreak, described the incident as unfortunate.
He stated that after sympathising with the victim, he told him to write a letter to the local government in order for the council to take necessary action.