No fewer than 260 fire disasters have been recorded in Lagos in December 2015, says the Director, Lagos State Fire service, Rasak Fadipe.
He spoke as fire razes Galaxy Television in Lagos, destroying property worth millions of naira.
The number of fire disasters recorded in the month of December increased the total number of inferno between January and 28 December, 2015 to 1,898 with 80 deaths recorded. This was over 200 incidents higher than what the state recorded in 2014.
On the 260 fire disasters recorded in the state between 1 and 28 December, Fadipe blamed larger percent of the inferno recorded in the state on residents’ nonchalant attitude, saying “whenever a fire occurs, residents do not call for help immediately. Rather, they fight the fire alone. It is until it had escalated that they call the emergency lines for help.
“For instance, at 23, Ogundola Street, Ladylak Bariga, 10 rooms were razed. The fire started from a candle lit by one of the occupants. The person left the candle unattended to. It fell on the furniture in the room and caught fire. Rather than call for assistance, the occupants were fighting the fire and due to the weather, it escalated,” he said.
P.M.NEWS learnt that Galaxy TV fire started at about 5:30 am and was due to an electrical spark from the amour cable connecting the studio to the station’s mast.
According to Fadipe, the distress call over the inferno was received at about 5:59 am and water tankers were deployed to the scene immediately to combat the fire.
“What we did when we arrived was to disconnect the electricity. And we were able to put out the fire,” he said.
A breakdown of the statistics showed that 16 fire disasters were recorded on Monday alone, and last Sunday, 12 cases of inferno were recorded.
Fadipe warned residents to desist from storing Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, in their homes, noting that it could escalate fire.
“Also, parents should caution their children and whoever wants to cook especially in the Yuletide season should stay closer to whatever he is cooking,” he said.
On Tuesday, a storey building at 12, Apo Eso Street, Power Line Bus Stop, Ejigbo was gutted by fire, while a building opposite Catholic Church at Road 14, Lekki Phase I and a house at 47 Eluku Street, Itupate, Ikorodu were gutted by fire.