A fire incident, which occurred weekend at the auto spare parts market in the Idumota area of Lagos Island has destroyed properties worth several millions of Naira.
The market is located near the Police Station adjacent Carter Bridge on Lagos Island,
The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the fire incident occurred on Friday night.
Oke-Osanyintolu said that preliminary investigations showed that multiple buildings used as shops for sales of vehicle spare parts were razed.
Oke-Osanyintolu said: “Following distress calls via the 767/112 Toll-Free Emergency Lines at 2220hrs, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency activated its Emergency Response Teams from Lekki, Cappa and the Command and Control Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.
“On arrival of the LASEMA Response Teams at the incident scene by 2255hrs, it was discovered that multiple buildings used as shops for sales of car spare parts were found engulfed by fire at the aforementioned location.
“The immediate or remote causes of the fire incident were yet to be ascertained as of Saturday night. However, properties and goods worth hundreds of millions of Naira were destroyed by the inferno.
“The LASEMA Shark Response Team, LASEMA Fire Unit, LASEMA Tiger Response Team, alongside Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, and the Federal Fire Service worked together to curtail the fire, preventing it from escalating to adjoining buildings.
“The law enforcement agencies present at the incident scene activated crowd measures to ensure all-round safety at the incident scene.”
Oke-Osanyintolu added that no casualties were recorded at the incident scene, and no injuries were sustained due to the incident.
He said: “Dampening down” has commenced to stamp out the remaining pockets of fire, noting that salvage of valuable properties in the recovered shops is ongoing.
According to him, efforts are ongoing to completely extinguish the fire, and recovery operations are still ongoing.
The Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, also confirmed the fire incident on Saturday.
But according to her, the fire broke out in the early hours of Saturday.
She, however, added that the fire that raged overnight was prevented from spreading beyond its point of origin as a result of the swift response of Lagos firefighters from the Ebute Elefun, Dolphin, Sari-Iganmu, and Alausa stations.
“Their effective management of the situation minimized further damage.
“While the fire has been extinguished, it resulted in the loss of several lock-up shops within the bungalow structures that trade in various tools and kitchenware.
“As the operation winds down with mop-up exercise, an enumeration is ongoing to determine the number of shops affected and the estimated value of the losses incurred. The investigation to uncover the exact cause of the fire is also being carried out,” the statement read partly.
Fortunately, no casualties have been reported from the incident.
