TheNewsGuru

Tag: Fire

  • Fire razes Benin market, EDPA complex

    Fire razes Benin market, EDPA complex

    Properties worth millions of naira were on Sunday destroyed by fire at the popular Ekiosa Market in Benin, Edo State.

    It was gathered that the fire started at about 11:00a.m. from the goat section before spreading to other parts of the market. A five-storey building housing the Edo Property Development Agency (EDPA) was also razed. Owners of buildings close to the market, including a petrol station, battled to stop the fire from consuming their property.

    The fire started at the Ekiosa market from the goat line and lasted for more than four hours spreading to the entire market. Hapless shop owners and sympathisers poured water and knocked out areas where the fire had already touched. Some traders were forced out of their shops to avoid being caught in the fire.

    It was gathered that men of the Edo State fire service were chased away by angry youths and traders when they were coming with one truck at about 12:30p.m. The youths said the Edo Fire Service did not respond to their distress call claiming there was no water but rushed to the scene when they learnt fire was spreading to a new shopping mall and the EDPA building.

    There was jubilation among the crowd when they saw fire at the top floor of the EDPA building. Several cars belonging to Edo State Government within the premises of the EDPA were destroyed by the angry youths.

    A combined security team including soldiers were drafted to the scene to forestall breakdown of law and order. But it was rather too late as robbers, pick pocket and criminals had a field day as they stole goods of traders brought out from the raging fire as well as cell phones of sympathisers.

    One trader who gave her name as Idowu said she lost many goats and other animals that were rescued to the hoodlums before fire got to her shop. Another trader said a bus driver fled with bags of rice he wanted to convoy to a safe location.

    Speaking with newsmen at the scene, the Commissioner for Youth and Special Duties, Damian Lawani, rued the unfortunate incident.

    He decried the looting by youths during the fire incident, lamenting how a bad situation was made worse when youths who are out to loot property attacked fire fighters.

    “Thirty minutes after the fire broke out, the state fire service and two from the NPDC came but the youths attack them and they had to run back. The army fire fighters, UNIBEN and Delta state fire service were able to come after we have mobilize both army, police and airforce to the scene. When we called the NPDC, they told us that their boys were injured during the attack.

    “The new twist is worrisome because the youths were out to loot property instead of sympathising with victims. If they had not attacked the fire fighters we brought in 30 minutes after the fire started, most of the property would have been saved,” he lamented.

    Meanwhile, the chairman, Oredo local government area, Jekins Osunde, who sympthised with the traders assured that the council would meet with them to see how to cushion the effect of the loss.

  • Protect your source of livelihood – Francis Ewherido

    By Francis Ewherido

    The sudden loss of a source of livelihood by the breadwinner of a family can put the entire family in financial uncertainty. Daily upkeep, school fees, rents, medical attention, etc., all become endangered. That is the fate that has befallen many traders in markets located in Onitsha, Anambra State, Benin in Edo State and Ughelli, Delta State. Parts of these markets were raised by fire within one week recently.

    Majority of the victims are going to need help from external sources to get back on their feet and that is a major worry. They will look up to family members, friends and government. They will be lucky to get family members and friends, who have the means and are willing to help. We have had many of such fires in the past where state governments made promises, but how many of such promises have been fulfilled. The only one I can recall was when a token was given to each victim, far less than what they lost. So, it is not likely they will get financial support from their state governments. In fact, as at the time of writing, the victims of the fire in Onitsha were lamenting that the Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano, had not visited them.

    There are many variables involved in these fires which are outside the control of the traders, but one of them is firmly within their control. That variance is fire and special perils insurance, which will get them back to business with ease after a fire-related loss without external support from family, friends or government. The traders, as a group, can take up a fire and special perils insurance to protect themselves against losses by fire, storm, flooding, explosion (qualified), etc.

    This will ensure that anytime any of the insured perils occurs, the insurance company will indemnify them; that is, restore them back to the financial position they were before the loss. I advise that traders go as a group because that will give them more bargaining power and help to reduce the rate of premium. But where other traders are not willing to insure as a group, individual traders have an obligation to protect themselves from loss by fire and special perils. The premium is quite small compared to the value of your goods. It can be as little as N10,000 per annum. That is less than what some traders spend on lunch and drinks weekly

    Beyond insurance, traders need to be in control of other variables. They should come together and set up a fire service station in their markets. I do not know the modalities for setting it up, but it should be possible. It is also not out of place in Nigeria. After all, for a long time now, Nigerians have constructed roads for themselves, provided drinking water for themselves and also provided security for themselves. All my life, I have been hearing about the absence or inefficiency of the fire service Very few people have had good stories to tell about the fire service.

    The most recent one I witnessed was in my estate. A building caught fire. Luckily some of us in the estate had functional fire extinguishers with which we mitigated the fire. By the time the state fire service came, they had no water! So why exactly did they come, some of us wondered. Luckily, with collective efforts of neighbours, we were able to put out the fire, although we lost a security man, who was badly burnt, a few days later. So traders will fare better with their own fire service for now, just as some companies in the oil and gas sector do. In addition and as an immediate measure, traders should have functional fire extinguishers in their shops. This can be used to put out small fires before they snowball.
    One more thing, traders need to refrain from blocking entrances and the roads in the market. We have had cases where fire devastated markets because the fire service could get to the areas of the market on fire.

    If traders are able to do these, they will enjoy some benefits. For instance, the insurance companies will reduce the premium rate for fire insurance because the presence of a fire station within the market and fire extinguishers in individual shops, would reduce the risk of fire incidents and losses. Also, note that even with a fire and special perils insurance, only material damage is covered when there is a loss. Meanwhile, the traders will suffer loss of income, profit, etc., while they are rebuilding and trying to get back to business after a loss. A fire and special perils insurance will not compensate them for loss of profit. There is another insurance policy that does that. It is called Business Interruption Insurance or Consequential loss insurance.

    Business interruption insurance covers profits that would have been earned had business operations not been disrupted. To ensure that the insurance principle of indemnity is upheld, the profits from prior months are used as a yardstick in the event of claim. This ensures that the insured is placed in the exact position he would have been financially had the loss not occurred. Business interruption insurance also covers operating costs and other costs still being incurred by the business based on previous statements of costs and employee wages.

    The insured might have some vital staff he does not want to lose while the business is closed. Consequently, he continues to pay their wages. Also during the closure, the insured might lose some key staff. The policy provides for training of new staff. In addition, if the old staff are not familiar with the new machines used to replace the damaged ones, the policy also covers the cost of training the staff.

    The challenge insurance practitioners have is that marketing fire and special perils to traders is already a tough task. Marketing a consequential policy (Business Interruption Insurance) is even a more difficult task. But in all honesty, what the traders should actually aim at is a combined policy of fire, special perils and business interruption insurance.

  • Tragic! Fire guts WHO vaccination storage facility in Osogbo

    World Health Organisation (WHO) vaccination storage facility at the Ayegbaju Market in Osogbo, was on Saturday razed by fire, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    According to a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) official, Ajinase Alade, attached to the facility, the fire started from a working power generator close to the WHO storage facility.

    “The fire started at about 12:13p.m from one of the power generator that was on to power the building where vaccines were stored.

    ” We quickly move to remove the cars packed close to the fire and mobilised to put out the fire.

    “But unfortunately, my motorcycle packed closed to the storage facility was, however, burnt by the fire while helping to remove the cars,” he said.

    Mrs Adeosun Adebola, the Osun WHO Immunisation Officer and State Cold Vaccine Coordinator told NAN that the cold vaccine storage office was not affected by the fire but the dry vaccine outlet was razed by fire.

    She said a 60KVA generator, one 12KVA generator and two 18 KVA generators were also affected.

    Adebola also said two photocopier machines and two motorcycles were also destroyed by the fire.

    “I61,795 pieces of 0.05ml needles and syringe , 633,871 pieces of 0.5ml needles and syringe, 10,575 pieces of 5ml needles and syringe, 3,976 pieces of 2ml needles and syringe were destroyed by the fire.

    ” 8,654 pieces of immunisation safety boxes were also destroyed by the fire,” she said.

    Adebola told NAN the officials of the state government and WHO officials had been to the incident site to assess the level of damage done by the fire.

    A maintenance official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they applied self effort to put out the fire from affecting and spreading to other buildings and stores within the market.

    He said the state fire service were contacted when the fire started but they had to quickly fetched water from the storex water tank around, some other people also helped to put out the fire before the fire service came.

    “But unfortunately the storage facility was completely razed, ” he said.

    Men of the state fire service could, however, be seen going through the remains of the fire to ensure the fire was completely put out.

  • Fire razes NNPC, Ibadan depot

    The Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Apata, Ibadan, Oyo, depot was on Wednesday gutted by fire, leaving about seven persons injured.

    A section of the loading point was completely damaged by fire, while three petrol tankers were also burnt.

    One of the persons injured, simply identified as Moji was caught in the raging fire, sustaining severe burns.

    Activities at the depot have been suspended forthwith, as the usual loading of fuel has been shut down.

    There was pandemonium when people around the NNPC depot, including the staff, saw pillows of fire, causing the people to start scaling the fence, and running helter-skelter to avoid been caught by the fire.

    The immediate cause of the inferno could not be ascertained, but a source attributed the afternoon fire to an electrical surge which sparked off the fire.

    A driver of one of the affected tankers, who would not want his name in print, however, disagreed that the fire was caused by electric surge, saying that the fire was caused by one of the tanker drivers at the loading point.

    He said ” I was there when one of the tanker drivers was removing his battery and using another truck’s battery to kick start his truck. It was when he put the battery and was hitting the head of the battery, trying to fix it that fire sparked from the battery and the next thing we say was a pillow of fire, trapping everyone available. ”

    The fire, which lasted for about two hours, was, however, quenched by a team of the Oyo State Fire Services and men of the NNPC for fighters who struggled to put off the fire.

    Members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, DSS and team of policemen were seen at the scene of the fire , to maintain law and order.

  • JUST IN: Panic as fire guts committee room at National Assembly

    A minor fire outbreak was on Friday reported in one of the committee rooms at the National Assembly complex, Abuja.

    The incident occurred inside committee room 322 at the House of Representatives building.

    According to reports, the fire was put out by security personnel, who were on the ground to prevent it from spreading to other offices.

    The cause of the fire could not be ascertained as at the time of this report and no casualty was reported.

  • Residents foil fresh oil pipeline fire at Ijegun

    Residents foil fresh oil pipeline fire at Ijegun

    Barely five days after a deadly pipeline fire that killed over a dozen people at Ijegun town, north of Lagos, residents of the community have foiled another pipeline vandalism.
    Ijegun, which has been having recurring pipeline vandalism since May 2008, is in the Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.
    A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent in the area reported that residents rose to the occasion and foiled what would have been another deadly explosion on Tuesday after vandals attempted to open a pipeline at a market in the community.
    Speaking on the development, the Divisional Police Officer at the Isheri Oshun Police Station, SP. Rafiu Akinlade, told NAN that policemen responded immediately they were alerted on the vandalism.
    “As soon a call got to me from the community, I immediately sent out my team but on getting there, the vandals had abandoned their tools and fled.
    “However, my men have collected all the tools and pipes they came with for their operation.
    “Although we are yet to apprehend the vandal, investigation is going on,” Akinlade told NAN.
    A resident of Ijegun community, Mr Victor Mbuba, told NAN that residents became apprehensive when they heard screams, prompting scores of people to start removing their belongings.
    “The smell was thick and this caused panic and fear of another explosion because the memory of the immediate past inferno was still shocking.’’
    Another resident, Vitalis Okonkwo, a student, told NAN that his family ran out to safety, following shouts in the neighbourhood.
    “When we perceived the fuel split all over the area, we ran out along with others in the neighborhood for fear of being trapped in another explosion.
    “Most people are yet to return for fear of another explosion because anything can happen. Nobody wants a repeat of the July 4 explosion,” he said.
    His neighbor, Mrs Bridget Umeorah, appealed to the Lagos State Government to provide security in the area to discourage pipeline vandalism.
    On May 25, 2008, a pipeline explosion occurred in Ijegun community when a truck used in road rehabilitation damaged an oil pipeline, causing a fire outbreak that killed many people and damaged property, estimated at millions of naira.
    Oil pipeline vandalism is rampant in oil-bearing Nigeria, perpetrated mainly by unscrupulous people seeking fortunes to make their living.

  • 70-year-old woman, four grand children die in Ondo inferno

    The riverine Biagbini community in Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State was in pensive mood on Saturday morning following the reported death of a 70-year-old woman, Mrs. Moyo Jide and her four grandchildren in a fire incident.
    Sources gave the names of the deceased grandchildren as Jennifer, three, Gbana,seven, Biddaddy, five and Wisdom, nine.
    Two of the grandchildren were said to be living with the grandmother since after the death of their father (Mrs. Moyo’s son) few years ago.
    As at press time, the cause of the inferno, was yet unknown, however, an eyewitness said the incident might be caused from the cooking fire in the kitchen of the deceased.
    It was also learnt that many property in the house were razed down by the fire.
    According to a resident of the community, who spoke in confidence, the fire started around 12.am on Saturday when the deceased were asleep.
    He said the matter was immediately reported at the Arogbo Police Division while the corpses of the deceased had been deposited at a hospital.
    The Police Public Relations Officer of the state, Femi Joseph, a Superintendent of Police (SP) confirmed the incident and said investigation had begun.

  • DISTURBING VIDEO: Fire kills woman, daughter in Delta; 2 badly burned [Photos]

    DISTURBING VIDEO: Fire kills woman, daughter in Delta; 2 badly burned [Photos]

    Two persons, a woman and her daughter, have been confirmed dead, while another of her child and another woman were badly burned in a gory fire incident caused by kerosene on Saturday morning.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the fire that claimed the life of the woman known as Carol and the daughter known as Favour, was said to have occurred at about 6 am in Eku, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.

    According to Nyerhovwo Akusu, an eyewitness who spoke with TNG, the fire started after the kerosene Carol was selling to the yet to be identified woman was torched by an exposed flame and, it escalated after other kegs of kerosene kept in her store exploded, affecting a stretch of three stores and a caravan in the vicinity.

    Another eyewitness, Efe Ikoyo revealed that while Carol died in the fire, Favour died while being taken to the hospital for treatment. He said by the time men of the Delta State University fire service arrived at the scene, the damage had already been done.

    There was no information about the woman Carol was selling the kerosene to and no information about the surviving child as at the time of filing this report. However, the eyewitnesses confirmed the woman and the child who survived the fire were badly burned and that they were transported to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara for treatment.

    See video (warning: video might be disturbing) and photos below:

    Woman, identified only as Carol burned beyond recognition
    Three stores within the vicinity badly damaged by the fire
    Another photo of the woman that was burned beyond recognition

     

  • Abuja: Apo transmission station catches fire [Video]

    Abuja: Apo transmission station catches fire [Video]

    There was a fire outbreak at the Apo transmission station in Abuja on Sunday – the fire was later put out.

    A 45MVA transformer, based on preliminary information was lost to the fire.

    The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) Head Corporate Communication, Mr. Oyebode Fadipe, disclosed.

    He noted that “Our technical team is right now working with the TCN engineers to see how to absorb the load on the 45MVA transformer that was affected by the fire.”

    The Minister of Power Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola that was said to have responded to the incident, said that he was that the technical staff were already working to redistribute the power from the station.

    He was quoted as saying that “I am aware of the Apo Fire incident which occurred today (Sunday) affecting the Transmission Transformer and our staff are at site & on ground . The fire has been put out.

    “Damages is being assessed and plans underway to redistribute Power to Communities served by the burnt damaged Transformer at Apo Transmission Sub Station.”

  • Fire destroys 140 shelters in Borno IDPs camp

    Fire destroys 140 shelters in Borno IDPs camp

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says 140 shelters were destroyed by fire in two Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps at Monguno Local Government Area of Borno.

    NEMA Northeast Information Officer, Malam Abdulkadir Ibrahim, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Maiduguri.

    Ibrahim said the fire incidents were recorded at Flatari and Nguro camps in Monguno on Saturday.

    He disclosed that 28 shelters were destroyed at Flatari camp, affecting 20 households while 120 shelters were razed and 77 households displaced at Nguro in the fire disaster.

    He added that about 371 persons were displaced in the fire outbreaks recorded in the two camps.

    Ibrahim said that the agency was conducting investigation to identifying the cause of the fire and appraise the needs of the victims.

    According to him, the agency in collaboration with the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had scaled up activities to support the victims.