How another fire outbreak led to loss of properties in Ogba Area of Lagos
Just over a month after the gas explosion in the Abule Ado area of Lagos killed at least 20 people and destroyed properties worth billions of Naira, another fire outbreak on Monday, April 27, in the Ogba area of Lagos has also destroyed many properties.
Although no casualties were recorded in the incident, the fire razed down the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC filling station along College Road, Ogba, and other properties beside it. Some eyewitnesses say the petrol filling station went up in flames while a tanker was discharging diesel at the offloading bay.
According to a statement by the station manager, Samuel Akinyemi, the diesel-laden tanker was stationed for use on Tuesday (today) and there wasn’t any indication of trouble until the incident occurred.
“We stationed the truck at the appropriate place for discharge, but unfortunately, a fire that I can’t even say how it came about started and before we knew it, it had escalated. The fire started from the truck but nobody was there when it started,” he told Punch.
The fire reportedly spread to a nearby Car Dealership plaza where it destroyed up to 30 cars and some buildings.
But for the timely intervention of the Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), and the NNPC Safety Marshalls, the fire may have caused greater damage than it already did. However, due to the joint effort of the response team, the inferno was extinguished around 4.49pm on Monday.
The residents of Ogba who defied social distancing while the fire was being contained were relieved that the fire was put out before it set off a chain that could have rendered many people homeless in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
