Tempers flare as Galaxy Television goes up in flames, again
When Galaxy Television suddenly went offline around 7:00pm on Tuesday, many of the members of staff thought it was just another technical fault. Afterall, the same thing had happened earlier that day when a cable decided to go off-duty by itself.
But they were soon brought to speed as regards the reality of the moment.
“When I heard fire, the first thing I went for was my bag,” one of them said. That was after he had arrived safety somewhere out of the building.
Of course, he was just one of many others who rushed out of the building.
When our correspondent arrived the scene, many of the staff members were out on the road. One of them could not understand why men of the fire service had not arrived.
“We called them 20 minutes ago,” she screamed out loud.
Another man was screaming into his phone. The person on the other side, an emergency centre worker, seemed to have asked for directions to locate the station. Were they not separated by distance he could have easily strangled whoever that person was to death. Thankfully, the poor phone was there to bear all the anger.
His anger was justified though. His building was on fire. All but two of the members of staff were standing helplessly by the roadside. And as the fire-fighters lingered, his anxiety could only grow.
Meanwhile, the fire continued to struggle for freedom. Two “heroic” members of staff would not let it breath. They combated it with fire-extinguishers and everything else they could lay their hands on, but the fire thrived still.
Firefighters arrive
BREAKING: Commotion as Galaxy TV catches fire at Allen, Ikeja.#NewsroomNG pic.twitter.com/6jwuPtVft6
— Neusroom (@Neusroom) August 23, 2016
When the fire-fighters eventually arrived, not a few persons heaved a sigh of relief.
Minutes after they swung into action, men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA, arrived.
As they battled the fire. A resident of the area and a Galaxy staff engaged in a battle of their own. The resident had gotten “too zealous” in her bid to capture proceedings, the female member of staff would have none of it. Thankfully, many others were around, the fight would have turned physical.
Shortly after, the fire was out. The fire fighters mopped up.
“The fire started from an air-conditioning unit,” one of them told our correspondent.
The fire spread to the transmitter, we gathered.
“The transmitter must have been roasted,” a Galaxy official told his colleague as they discussed what would become of their beloved place work.
“Maybe one would have to go learn a skill,” one of them remarked.
As at the time of filing this report, the extent of the damage had not been ascertained.
One thing is sure though, Galaxy Television would be off air for a while. How long that would be, we can’t tell..
