Two traders at the popular Amu Plank Market in the Mushin area of Lagos State, on Saturday, slumped following the early morning inferno that ravaged the market.
Goods worth millions of naira, including building materials, planks were destroyed. Also, warehouses and vehicles were razed in the fire which reportedly started some few minutes after midnight.
Firefighters and officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency(LASEMA) battled to put out the fire for more than 11 hours.
A firefighter, who spoke with the Sunday Tribune under the condition of anonymity, said that hoodlums and the combustible nature of the goods in many of the shops were responsible for the spread of the fire.
A resident of the area also told the Sunday Tribune that “the fire was noticed in one of the stores at the market and it instantly grew bigger.”
He added that “it might have occurred as a result of power surge in the shop, but nobody can really say for now what caused the fire.
“Some people who were offloading new stock and residents made attempts to put out the fire but it was uncontrollable.”
Sunday Tribune gathered that many of the traders who had left were called on phone when the fire became uncontrollable, and they had to rush down there.
LASEMA spokesperson, Nosa Okunbor, who spoke on the incident, said “the fire outbreak was reported about 01:25a.m through distress calls to LASEMA’s control room and that it was “curtailed with virtually all first responders in place and at work.
“First responders had long been at work since about 02:00a.m. in spite of the reports that the Fire Services came to the scene without water.”
He confirmed that the fire was caused by surge in electricity supply, adding “situation report by LASEMA response teams on the fire outbreak at the market in Mushin has it that upon arrival at the scene, it was observed that many plank shops and adjoining residential buildings were razed by the fire.
“Further investigations at the incident site revealed that the fire was caused by an electrical surge.”
Okunbor pointed out that “though an actual amount of damage by the fire cannot yet be given until proper enumeration is conducted, conservative estimates and tentative analysis have it that the inferno razed goods and properties worth several millions of naira.”