Petrol tanker catches fire inside Kwara filling station

Property worth N589.6 million was saved from inferno in Ilorin, Kwara state, late Saturday night when a petrol tanker discharging fuel at a filling station reportedly caught fire.

The incident reportedly occurred at M. M. Rodiat Nigeria Limited filling station located along Sobi Specialist Hospital Road, Ayegbami junction, Ilorin, Ilorin East local government area of Kwara state at about 10:05 pm.

It was also gathered that some neighbours informed men of the state Fire Service, whose efforts reportedly saved property being consumed by the inferno.

The Head, Media and Publicity of the State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, confirmed that no life was lost in the accident.

“On the brigade arrival at the scene of occurrence, the blazing fire had engulfed the whole tanker due to the terrible nature of the incident.

“However, firemen were able to put out the fire on time and also prevented the burning tanker from affecting the filling station and buildings in the vicinity area.

“The report says the accident was caused due to mechanical problem in the petrol tanker.

“Therefore, The Director Kwara State Fire Service, Prince Falade John Olumuyiwa urged the general public to be more careful and advised the filling stations to procure all the necessary safety equipment at their various stations,” he said.

Also, the men of the state Fire Service said that the Federal Secretariat, located along Fate Road, Ilorin, in the Ilorin East local government area, was saved from being completely razed down as it caught fire on Saturday.

The leading officer of the Fire Service crew, who reportedly attended to the incident, said that the ravaging fire resulted from overheated solar panel.

The officer added that the cause of the fire incident was due to mechanical fault, which reportedly led to overheating of the solar panel and thus resulted in fire.

“Therefore, the Director Kwara State Fire, Prince Falade John Olumuyiwa, urged citizens of Kwara state to be more safety conscious and warned them not to leave any of their electrical devices plugged if they were not at homes or offices.”