At least five vehicles were burnt this morning after fire gutted 
Mobil petrol station on Oba Akran Avenue/Akilo Road, Ikeja, Lagos, 
Southwest Nigeria.
Eyewitnesses said fire engulfed the petrol 
station after an oil tanker trying to discharge fuel spilled its content
 and it caught fire. The incident paralysed traffic for several hours 
around Ogba, Agege and Ikeja.
Huge balls of fire were seen while 
thick smoke billowed into the atmosphere for over three hours as fire 
fighters battled to put out the fire to no avail. The station was 
completely burnt.
The incident happened hours after another fire disaster occurred at 
the Generator House of the Christ Embassy Church, Oregun area of the 
state.
The fire at Mobil filling station started around 6:05 a.m. 
when an oil tanker, fully loaded with petrol was trying to gain access 
into the filling station to empty its content, but the queue formed by 
motorists waiting to buy fuel as a result of the scarcity did not give 
the tanker driver enough room to enter the station.
As the driver 
of the tanker was trying to enter the filling station, the truck hit a 
metal object that punctured the tanker, which spilled its content and it
 immediately exploded and caught fire.
Five vehicles on queue to 
buy fuel were completely burnt by the inferno, but no life was loss as 
their occupants escaped to safety.
The fire at Mobil Filling 
station led to massive traffic gridlock in Ikeja, Ogba and Agege as 
motorists had harrowing experience, while many got to their places of 
work very late after being caught in traffic for hours.
In Agege, there was heavy traffic gridlock on Oba Ogunji inward 
Ijaiye Road, which extended to Ogba as motorists trying to flee from the
 fire incident at the Mobil filling station contributed to paralysing 
traffic at Ogba.
Traffic on Oba Akran was massive as it was 
brought to a near halt. Motorists spent hours trying to get out of the 
area, while Akilo Road, Acme Road and other adjoining roads were 
completely blocked as a result of the inferno. WEMPCO Road was also 
blocked by heavy traffic for several hours.
Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasak Fadipe told 
P.M.NEWS
 that “the fire spread and burnt five vehicles and several electric 
poles. One of the burning poles fell on a man and wounded him seriously.
 He was taken to the hospital by the Lagos State Ambulance Services. We 
are advising Lagosians not to crowd around scenes of fire disasters for 
safety purpose,” he said.
Fadipe said his men got to the scene on 
time with five fire trucks with each carrying 10,000 litres of water 
from five of its fire stations, such as Ilupeju, Ikeja, Agege and Isolo,
 saying that the water was mixed with chemical to quell the fire as 
ordinary water could not quell the fire of such magnitude.
Spokesperson,
 National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said
 “a massive fire outbreak occurred at Mobil Filling Station at the Oba 
Akran junction.
“It started around 6:05 am this morning which 
began with a tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of fuel and was trying to 
enter the filling station but vehicles on queue did not allow it free 
access and in the process, an iron punctured the tanker leading to the 
fire. One person was injured by a PHCN pole that fell down on person due
 to the fire affected the pole,” he explained.
General Manager, 
Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi 
Oke-Osanyintolu said “the state’s emergency response was activated 
immediately and the first response team is on ground to battle the 
fire.”
Yesterday, properties worth millions of naira were  
destroyed as the Generator House of the Christ Embassy Church on Oregun 
Road was gutted by fire.
The fire started around 6:20 pm, with men
 of the Lagos State Fire Service racing to the scene to quell the fire 
before it wreaked further havoc.
Director, Lagos State Fire Services, Fadipe said there were 14 generators in the room and that they were all burnt.
In
 the last one week, over 15 cases of fire disasters have been reported 
across the Lagos metropolis, with properties estimated in millions of 
naira were consumed by the fire.
Source: PM News