A four-storey building collapsed and four others destroyed along with goods worth millions of naira in a fire that ravaged the Dosunmu part of Idumota Market in Lagos State on Wednesday.
This came as Kano State Fire Service said fire also razed 40 shops in the Zawaciki area of the Kumbotso Local Government Area of the state.
In the Lagos incident, the fire, which started around 7am, reportedly raged for more than three hours as firefighters and other emergency responders battled to prevent it from spreading beyond the affected buildings.
One of the affected houses, a four-storey building, collapsed as a result of the intensity of the inferno.
The incident was said to have started from power surge in one of the buildings and the fire spread to other buildings.
The fire power surge was traced to the four-storey building at 47 Dosunmu Street.
Permanent Secretary in charge of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said, “A four-storey building used as residential building and shops for sale of fabrics was engulfed by fire at the aforementioned address at about 7:01a.m, today, Wednesday, 20th March, 2024.”
The LASEMA boss in a statement added that “further investigation revealed that the immediate cause of the fire was due to a power surge after electricity was restored.
“The fire which started at No. 47 Dosunmu Street, escalated to four buildings at No 45, No. 47, No. 49A and No. 49B at Dosunmu Street, Lagos Island.”
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency head also confirmed that “the building at No. 47 collapsed as a result of the impact of the fire.”
The LASEMA response team at Lekki alongside LRU Fire, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Federal Fire Men, Nigerian Ports Authority Fire men, LASAMBUS officials, LNSC officials, CBD crew and Nigeria Police Force attended to the inferno.
In Kano, 40 shops have been destroyed in a late night fire outbreak on Tuesday in the Kumbotso Local Government Area of state.
The affected 40 shops were part of a sprawling commercial shopping complex in the Kano metropolis.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Kano State Fire Service, Saminu Abdullah, confirmed the incident.
