Fire guts building in Imo

A bungalow housing seven tenants and their family members, located at No. 4 Ezeugo Nnadi Street, Anyadike Avenue (formerly Sunny Bobo Avenue) in Amakohia, Owerri West LGA of Imo State, has been destroyed by a midnight fire outbreak.

The fire, which occurred between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. on Friday, rendered the occupants homeless. Household items and belongings, including gas cylinders, foam, clothes, and kitchen equipment, all valued at several millions of Naira, were completely destroyed.

Though no lives were lost in the incident, the victims, including a pregnant woman, managed to escape the fire. However, the incident has subjected the tenants to serious hardship.

Narrating the cause of the incident, the landlord, Mr. Kingsley Okoronkwo, said that one of his tenants called him around 2:30 a.m. that day to inform him about the fire.

The landlord regretted that by the time he arrived at the scene, the entire house, including some of his own property stored in one of the rooms, as well as his tenants’ belongings, had been destroyed, with nothing salvaged.

While expressing relief that no lives were lost, Okoronkwo said that efforts were made to reach out to the Fire Service, which arrived two hours after being alerted.

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Occupants of the house revealed that the fire started around 2:30 a.m. and raged for over three hours before being extinguished by a combined effort of the State Fire Service and residents of the neighborhood.

Our correspondent, who visited the scene, reports that the entire structure, including the seven rooms, kitchen, and conveniences, was completely destroyed, with all household property inside burnt to ashes.

According to the tenants, no lives were lost, and no one was injured, as they managed to escape the inferno. They also stated that the cause of the fire is unknown and was yet to be determined at the time of filing this report.

One of the tenants, Mrs. Phina Tunankwe, a mother of three from Ogoja in Cross River State, said she had lived in the house for five years and expressed shock at the incident. She lamented the loss of everything, saying that all her family’s belongings had been burnt, and nothing could be salvaged due to the intensity of the fire.

Other tenants, including Mr. Ikechukwu Onuoha, Miss Ozim Chidimma Mercy from Arondizuogu, and Ahamefula Sylvia, a pregnant woman, corroborated Mrs. Tunankwe’s account, pointing out that generator sets, gas cylinders, home appliances, upholstery, chairs, food items, and other belongings were destroyed.

Ozim mentioned that she was the first to notice the fire in one of the rooms where the landlord had stored his property. She raised the alarm, and other tenants ran out, attempting to stop the fire, but their efforts were in vain.

The tenants stated that the fire was not caused by an electrical fault, as there was no electricity at the time of the incident.

The tenants, now stranded and homeless, lamented their situation. They are calling for urgent assistance from both the government and kind-hearted individuals to help them secure new shelter and overcome the trauma caused by this unfortunate incident.