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
