A fire outbreak at Idumota, Lagos, has destroyed property and goods worth millions of naira, according to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).
In a statement on Saturday, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, disclosed that the incident occurred on Friday night, engulfing multiple buildings used as car spare parts shops.
Oke-Osanyintolu said emergency response teams were activated immediately after receiving distress calls via the 767/112 Toll-Free Emergency Lines at 10:20 p.m.. Teams from Lekki, Cappa, and the Command and Control Centre in Alausa arrived at the scene by 10:55 p.m. to begin containment efforts.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that multiple buildings used as shops for the sale of car spare parts were ablaze,” he stated. “The immediate or remote causes of the fire incident were yet to be ascertained at the time of writing this report.”
He confirmed that no casualties or injuries were reported, but the inferno caused extensive damage, destroying property valued at hundreds of millions of naira.
Emergency responders, including the LASEMA Shark and Tiger Response Teams, the LASEMA Fire Unit, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, and the Federal Fire Service, collaborated to prevent the fire from spreading to adjoining buildings.
Law enforcement agencies were also present to ensure crowd control and maintain safety at the scene.
Efforts to extinguish the fire entirely are ongoing, with teams conducting dampening down operations to eliminate remaining fire pockets and salvage valuable items from the affected shops.
“The recovery operation is still ongoing,” Oke-Osanyintolu noted, adding that all efforts are being made to fully secure the area.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
