By Kolawole Ojebisi
Traders dealing in auto parts are still counting the losses incurred last night (Friday) when fire gutted their section of the Idumota market in Lagos.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said property destroyed by the fire outbreak worth millions of naira.
The agency’s permanent secretary, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu. disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday (today).
Oke-Osanyintolu said preliminary investigation showed that multiple buildings used as shops for sales of car spare parts were ablaze at the aforementioned location.
“Following distress calls via the 767/112 Toll-Free Emergency Lines at 2220hrs, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, activated it’s Emergency Response Teams from Lekki, Cappa and the Command and Control Centre, Alausa, Ikeja,” he said.
“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 at the time of writing this report”
Oke-Osanyintolu added that no casualties were recorded at the incident scene.
“Properties and goods worth hundreds of millions of naira were destroyed by the inferno,” he said.
“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 also said “frantic efforts” are ongoing to completely extinguish the fire.
He said “dampening down” has commenced to stamp out the remaining pockets of fire, noting that salvage of valuable properties in the recovered shops are ongoing.
The permanent secretary noted that the recovery operation is still ongoing.
