•Fire Razes Shops in Lagos Market
Traders yesterday counted losses running into millions of naira following the fire outbreak that gutted a section of Arena Market in the Bolade area of Oshodi, Lagos State, on Monday evening.
It was reported that the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, in a statement by its Controller-General, Margaret Adeseye, stated that it received a distress call at about 5:50pm, prompting the immediate deployment of firefighting units, which arrived at the scene within five minutes.
She added that the fire affected five 40-foot container shops arranged in two rows, bringing the total number of affected shops to 10.
According to the fire service, the inferno was successfully confined to the affected section and brought under control, with no risk of it spreading to adjoining areas of the market.
During a visit to the scene of the incident yesterday, firemen were seen conducting final damp-down operations, reports The PUNCH.
Bundles of burnt wares affected by the fire were also seen being packed out of the already damaged containers by scavengers.
Speaking to our correspondent, a trader who identified himself simply as Chris blamed the spread of the fire on the unavailability of water in the market fire engine.
He said, “When the fire started, the Arena fire service was the first to arrive, but when they got here, they discovered that they had no water.
“They went back again, and when they came back, the water they brought was not much. They had to go back to fetch more water. During this time, the fire had already begun to spread. In fact, they look confused.
“Despite all the money they are making from the traders, they can’t equip the section of the market for emergencies like this. It was not too long before the Lagos fire service came. Although they came with one fire engine, that didn’t suppress the fire until they later brought another one.”
A teenage trader, Chidi Nwafor, said efforts were made to salvage some of the goods, but the fire was rapid due to the nature of the items.
“We tried to salvage some of the goods, but the fire spread so quickly because of the clothes kept in the containers. It was from that window that we were throwing the clothes out,” he said, pointing at one of the burnt containers.
In a video seen by our correspondent at the scene of the incident, a trader identified as Chibuike was seen lamenting during the inferno. He was said to have just restocked his shop a day before the incident.
Raw cash running into millions of naira was also affected by the fire, another trader whose brother’s shop was affected told our correspondent.
“He kept about N11 million in his drawer with the intention of using it to restock after the New Year celebration. The incident happened when everyone was already closing, and he had already left. He ran back to this place only to see his shop on fire.”
The incident comes as emergency responders are still at the scene of the Great Nigeria Insurance Plaza fire, conducting search-and-rescue operations.
