Fire wreaks havoc, destroys 94 shops in Lagos market

A devastating fire, on Sunday, destroyed 94 shops and goods worth millions of naira at a shopping complex, opposite Presbyterian Church, Yaba, Lagos.

Though no life was lost in the incident, it was gathered that only 117 of the 201 shops in the complex could be salvaged by a combined team of Lagos State Fire Services and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).

Preliminary investigation by relevant government agencies revealed that the fire started from one of the shops at the back side of the complex.

According to the General Manager, LASEMA, Mr. Adeshina Tiamiyu who confirming the incident to reporters, the agency received a distress call at about 12.45 am and immediately activated response team.

He said wears, shoes, bags in the affected 94 shops were burnt to ashes but that the agency and the state fire service succeeded in salvaging 201 shops.

According to him, “owners of the shops were alerted and came on time to salvage some of their wares while the presence of the police team prevented lurking miscreants from looting the salvaged products. No life was lost in the incident.”

He noted that the fire outbreak was exacerbated by the highly inflammable materials such as air conditioners, generators with fuel and wears stored in the shops, saying the items caused occasional explosions as the fire raged.

The general manager also said that emergency responders had  problem of accessibility to some of the shops due to iron bars used as security doors for the shops.

However, he advised market owners to ensure that their members are continuously sensitized on fire prevention and safety as well as ensuring that electrical appliances are put off after the close of business everyday to avoid incident such as this.

Similarly, there was another fire incident at No. 83 Abeokuta Street Ebute Metta, Lagos.