An inferno has razed to the ground a storey building at Ojodu in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, leaving valuables worth millions of naira burnt.
Our correspondent learnt that the cause of the inferno, which started around 9:00pm, could not be ascertained as nobody was in the building when it caught fire.
Some of the neighbours and residents, who spoke to our correspondent, said nobody noticed when the fire actually started, adding that they just saw the inferno when it had gutted a part of the building.
The building, our correspondent learnt, was an office and store house, where event planning materials and equipment were kept.
Speaking to our correspondent, a neighbour, Mr Tunde Akinlabi, said, “We don’t know the cause of the fire. It was my co-tenant that called my attention to it and we all rushed out; I, my wife and kids.
“A lot of materials and equipment worth millions of naira went down with the fire, because many things for event planning were kept there; a lot of decoration materials, among other things.”
Also speaking, another neighbour, simply identified as Daddy Blessing, said, “I came back from work, took a bath and settled to take a cup of tea, when my daughter called my attention to some smoke emitting.
“I even thought it was a joke, but when she persisted, I went out reluctantly to see what she was talking about and I saw the thick smoke coming out from the building. Before we knew what was happening, huge fire erupted and so neighbours and other residents started coming to fight the fire. I immediately called the Lagos Fire Service.
“The fire affected my kitchen; everything in my kitchen has been burnt.”
It was gathered that a part of a residence by the side of the building was gutted by the inferno, which was put out by some residents before the arrival of the LRU officials.
Our correspondent learnt that occupants of the four-flat residence vacated the building with their vehicles hurriedly driven out.
One of the residents, simply identified as Nurudeen, who assisted in containing the inferno, said, “I was at the site. I was working, when I saw the fire burning. Some other guys and I rushed there and we started trying to put out the fire. We poured water, sand and other things but the fire was too heavy. But we were able to manage to prevent the fire from spreading to the other building.
“The people in the building rushed out and those who had cars drove them out quickly. There was one particular car that had grounded; we had to push it out if not maybe the whole house would have been on fire too.”
Our correspondent, who was at the scene of the incident about an hour after the fire began, noted that the inferno raged till about 11:00pm, when officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Response Unit came in with four trucks.
Though the inferno was put out, the building collapsed following the impact of the fire on the bricks.
