Fire razes storey-building in Warri

Property worth millions of naira were, on Thursday, destroyed by fire in a storey-building at First Marine Gate, Warri in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.

However, no life was reportedly lost during the inferno as all occupants of the building were said to have successfully evacuated their handy belongings before the fire engulfed the building.

Tribune Online gathered from eyewitnesses late Thursday that the fire that engulfed the building emerged from a close refuse dump that was set on fire by an unidentified resident of the area.

The harmattan-aided fire reportedly destroyed property worth millions of naira in its wake, leaving the victims bewildered.

Witnesses said the raging fire billowing from the refuse site initially spread to a nearby shanty that was behind the storey building.

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It was gathered that all efforts made to put out the fire that had spread to the shanty were unsuccessful as the Harmattan haze subsequently spread it to the storey building.

It was further gathered that efforts to access the storey-building were difficult as most of the occupants had travelled for the yuletide.

As a result, the storey-building was completely destroyed by the inferno in spite of amateur efforts by neighbours and passersby to intervene.

Meanwhile, witnesses said firefighters could not be sighted at the scene in spite of alerting them.

Vice-chairman of the Warri South LGA, Mrs Divine Iniovosa, was reported to have hated to the scene.

She was said to have told local reporters that her call to the firefighters for a quick intervention yielded no fruit as they complained of a faulty truck.