TheNewsGuru

Tag: Fire

  • Fire razes residence of Imo’s Deputy Governor [Photos]

    A building in the official residence of the Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere was razed by fire on Thursday.

    The fire which is suspected to have been triggered by a nearby bush fire, spread to the visitors waiting hall razing down the building.

    It also destroyed a bus stationed within the premises and other valuables estimated to worth millions of naira.

    The raging inferno would have spread to the main building but for the quick intervention of security attachés who were later joined by officials of fire service who promptly helped to bring the fire under control.

    Meanwhile, Mr. Madumere has called for further investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the incident so as to prevent future occurrence.

    A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Uche Onwuchekwa, said Mr. Madumere while regretting the ugly incident expressed gratitude to God that no life was lost.

     

  • BREAKING: Two burnt to death as gas plant explode in Lagos [Photos]

    Two persons were feared dead in a reported fire outbreak in Second Coming gas plant in Magodo area of Lagos State.

    While the immediate cause of the inferno remains unknown as at press time, the fire is said to have spread to other properties in the neighbourhood and other persons are said to have been injured as a result of the fire.

    A brief statement by the spokesperson of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, said the fire at the 2nd Coming Gas plant has spread to other properties in the neighbourhood.

    Mr. Kazeem ‎advised motorists to seek other routes to avoid the area.

     

  • Fire guts Trump tower in New York

    A fire has broken out on the roof of the Trump Tower building in Manhattan, the New York Fire Department has confirmed.

    Firefighters are currently making sure it did not spread.

    The New York City Fire Department said that the fire started on the terrace and was quickly contained.

    U.S. President was not currently at Tower but at Washington. D.C. at the time of the incident.

    While Trump and the First Family now live in the White House, he maintains a palatial apartment in the 58-story tower.

    So far, only one person has been reportedly injured in the fire incident in the building, which houses both residences and businesses.

    Smoke was captured pouring out of the 21st floor of the building and reports said investigators were looking into what may have sparked the blaze.

  • Updated: Fire guts 20 vehicles, several bags of rice at Customs warehouse in Lagos [Photos]

    Updated: Fire guts 20 vehicles, several bags of rice at Customs warehouse in Lagos [Photos]

    A warehouse belonging to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A was yesterday razed by fire.

    20 vehicles, consisting of six articulated vehicles, 12 cars and two minibuses, and a fully loaded truck with seized foreign parboiled rice at the NCS’ warehouse were affected in the inferno

    The intervention of firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service and men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency was said to have curtailed the spread of the fire.
    The exact cause of the fire, which started around 2pm, could not be ascertained as of press time, as there were conflicting accounts of what started it.

    While authorities at the customs service said the fire started after the gas cylinder of an impounded truck exploded, one of the emergency workers said it was caused by bush burning.

    The fire was said to have quickly spread to vehicles in the warehouse before the firefighters intervened.

    The spokesperson for the NCS, FOU Ikeja, Jerry Attah, said three vehicles were burnt, adding that no life was lost or injury sustained.

    He said, “A section of the constructed annex warehouse was gutted by fire. It is not our main warehouse. There were two trucks that had been there for a long time. The trucks had gas cylinders which usually come with them. The fact that they had been there for a long time, coupled with the heat of the season, made one of them to explode. When it exploded, the fire spread. But we called in the state fire service and LASEMA. The fire was put out at 3pm. Only one truck and two cars were burnt.”

    However, one of the emergency workers at the scene said the fire started due to bush burning activities around the place where the vehicles were parked.

    He said, “We discovered that some people were burning bush around the warehouse and that was what started the inferno. No life was lost and no injury sustained.”

    The Director of the state fire service, Rasak Fadipe, said the agency deployed three water trucks from the Alausa, Ikeja and Ilupeju fire stations.

    He said, “When we received the alert, we activated our emergency response plan and deployed firefighters in the scene. We had seen the fire from our office and with the support of our sister agency, LASEMA, we did not allow the fire to go beyond where we met it.

    “The fire, however, destroyed six articulated vehicles, 12 cars and two minibuses. There were many vehicles in the warehouse. We worked tirelessly to prevent the fire from spreading to other vehicles. If not for our prompt response, the damage would have been more.”

    The General Manager of LASEMA, Adeshina Tiamiyu, said the agency’s officials joined in putting out the fire, adding that 18 vehicles – 12 cars and six trucks – were gutted by fire.

    Tiamiyu noted that LASEMA would work with the customs service to investigate the cause of the fire to forestall a recurrence.

    [Photos] Vehicles, bags of rice destroyed as fire guts Customs warehouse in Lagos

  • [Photos] Vehicles, bags of rice destroyed as fire guts Customs warehouse in Lagos

    [Photos] Vehicles, bags of rice destroyed as fire guts Customs warehouse in Lagos

    A warehouse belonging to the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A was on Thursday gutted by fire in Lagos.

    The warehouse which was filled with seized vehicles and foreign parboiled rice was destroyed by the fire which occurred about noon.

    According to an eyewitness, the fire razed substantial part of the warehouse destroying six trucks, 15 cars/vans and a fully loaded truck with seized foreign parboiled rice.

    The eyewitness also disclosed that goods worth several millions of naira were destroyed in the inferno.

    But speaking to newsmen, the Deputy Head, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaki Musibau, said the fire started from a burst cylinder stored under one of the burnt vehicles.

    Details later…

  • 12 killed in New York apartment fire

    Twelve people were killed, including an infant, and four were critically injured on Thursday in a fire that swept through several floors of an apartment building in the New York City borough of the Bronx, Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed.

    The cause of the fire, on Prospect Avenue, near Fordham University and the Bronx Zoo, is not yet clear.

    The blaze started on the first floor of the brick building and quickly spread upstairs, city Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters at a news conference with the mayor. The cause was under investigation.

    He added that “People died on various floors of the apartment, ranging in age from 1 to over 50,”

    “In a department that is surely no stranger to tragedy, we’re shocked by the lives lost.”

    Two of the dead were found in a bathtub, according to cable news station NY1.

    More than 160 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control.

    Officials said the first alarm sounded at the five-storey building at about 19:00 local time (00:00 GMT).

    Speaking at the scene, Mr De Blasio said a nearby school had been set up to shelter those evacuated from the building. The city is currently experiencing bitterly cold weather.

    “We’re here at the scene of an unspeakable tragedy”

    “Tonight, here in the Bronx there are families that have been torn apart. This is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter century. Based on the information we have now, this will rank as one as the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years.” said Mr De Blasio

    Four people were in hospital in critical condition “fighting for their lives,” the mayor said.

    Authorities said firefighters rescued 12 people from the building.

    Witness Rafael Gonzalez, who lives in a building across the street, told WCBS-TV he was woken by the smell of smoke and then saw some people using a fire escape of the burning building as the fire raged.

     

  • Fire guts NAFDAC headquarters

    Fire guts NAFDAC headquarters

    The headquarters of National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Abuja has been gutted by fire on Friday.

    The Director, Search and Rescue of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Sonny Ohemu, who led a team to inspect the scene, said the cause of the inferno is being investigated.

    Ohemu explained that the fire incident started at about 6.20 a.m and the cleaners as well as security guards in NAFDAC called the Federal Fire Service immediately.

    “We arrived the place promptly to put out the fire,’’ said the director.

    According to the director, the inferno touched only two offices. “We must commend the management of NAFDAC for training people like cleaners to know what to do in case of fire disaster.

    “We have to also appreciate the Federal Government for the recent purchase of equipment for Fire Service which has really helped to curtail the situation,” he said.

    However, it is reported that security guards are preventing people from gaining entrance to the complex, while staffers of the agency are seen outside the premises.

    The management of NAFDAC is yet to react to the incident just as the mobile phone of the agency’s spokesman, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, was switched off.

     

    NAN

  • Pregnant mother, kids, husband burnt to death in Lagos fire accident

    An pregnant woman, her husband and two children were yesterday burnt to death in their Lagos home.

    The incident occurred at 13, Buraimoh Street, Bariga at the wee hours of the day.

    Forty-one-year-old Kenneth Eze, his wife, Favour and their daughters Miracle and Marvellous were sleeping in their shop when the fire broke out.

    Kenneth, who ran a drug outlet, resided in his aluminium shop with his family.

    Besides, the wife reportedly went into force labour and delivered still birth which the fire.

    Two other shops, a tailoring centre and a provision store attached to the chemist’s store were also razed by the inferno.

    Neighbours who were alarmed by their screaming said the metallic component of the burglary secured shop made it difficult to render timely assistance.

    They were said to have died from burns and suffocation from the fire.

    While some residents blamed the outbreak on electric surge, others claimed it was caused by a lit candle that was left unattended.

    TheNewsGuru gathered that Eze, an Imo state indigene, was set to spend the Christmas holiday at his newly built home in Ikorodu before the incident.

    While a crowd of sympathisers gathered before the shops, hoodlums besieged the heap of ruins, scavenging useful materials.

    However, the fire did not affect the main bungalow building situated in the same compound with the shops.

    Eze’s former boss, who didn’t want her name, disclosed said he was an honest and diligent man, who gave his time to the service of God.

    She said: “When we spoke, he told me he had issues with his Landlord. So he said he would move to his new house by the 27th of this month. The next thing was that I was called about his death. When I asked people, they said the electric sparks was the cause. Kenneth was a very good boy. He made me happy. He never lied and he never stole from me. He was passionate about God because I encouraged him to be born-again. In fact, he was already a pastor before I settled him. Even after he left my control, I still narrate his case to my children because of his good records. The person who made me stay in Lagos. When you call him, he would respond and you could take his word.”

    The deceased’s relative said: “When the fire broke out, it displaced all of them in different parts of the shop. People who heard him crying for help could not assist. They couldn’t near him because of naked wire. They just watched the family die helplessly. It was just few days to settling in his home. “

    A member of the World Harvest Church where Eze pastored, Ndukwu said: “My wife called me this morning around 11:30 asking if I learnt about the incident. I was shocked as she said the whole family died. We are only here to help gather any necessary remnants from the ruins. I honestly don’t know how I feel about the incident. According to people, he struggled to escape the fire but the electric surge held him back.”

    The remains of the deceased have been taken to Imo State for burial.

    Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe said the fire would have wreaked more havoc but for quick response from emergency workers.

    He said investigations would be conducted into the cause of the outbreak.

  • Panic as overnight fire kills family of four in Lagos

    An overnight fire has killed a family of four, simply identified as Eze’s family, at No. 13, Buraimoh street, Bariga area of Lagos.

    The Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Mr Rasak Fadipe, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    Fadipe said the incident occurred at about 2.48 a.m.

    He said personnel of the service got to the scene of the incident as soon as they got information about the fire, but that due to the double burglary irons on the door and window of the apartment, they were unable to reach the victims in time.

    “The apartment is a chemist store. The father, mother, and two children of ages five and eight were found dead inside the store.

    “ We advise that although one needs security in his or her house or business place, it should not be to the detriment of the people.

    “Members of the family should always know the exist of their apartment whenever there is an emergency,” the director said.

    Some sources told NAN that the deceased woman was pregnant mother of the two children, and that the fire started after electricity supply was restored to the area.

    Others believed that the fire could have been caused by candlelight.

     

    NAN

  • Explosion destroys missionary school in Umuahia

    A huge fire from an explosion at Saclux Paints Industry in Umuahia, the Abia capital, on Sunday destroyed a missionary school building in the neighbourhood.

    Mr Emeka Okereke, the owner of the school, known as Love for Africa Mission, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that a tanker, allegedly bearing ‘black oil’ exploded inside the company’s premises around 1 pm.

    He said that the fire started with an explosion shortly after they ended the Sunday service at the school.

    “We ended the Sunday service around 12:15 pm and I was trying to lock up the gate, when I heard a heavy explosion, accompanied with billows of heavy smoke and fire moving up the sky.

    “The incident caused panic and stampede as everyone of us scampered into different areas, including the nearby bush, for safety,” he said.

    He said that the fire later spread into the school building, which doubles as his family residence, when oil from the exploded tank spilled into the compound.

    He said that as the fire raged, some youths in the area made attempts to move into his building in order to rescue some valuables.

    Okereke said that he restrained them because he feared that they might be trapped inside the building.

    “But when they insisted and attempted to pull down the entrance gate, I gave them the key with which they entered the compound,” he said.

    He said that the sympathisers succeeded in pushing out the two jeeps that were parked in the compound.

    He said that he could not ascertain the extent of damage, saying that no other property was recovered from the building.

    An eyewitness account said that a fire fighting equipment from the state fire service came to the scene but could not control the fire due to insufficient water in the machine.

    NAN gathered that the fire fighters returned to the scene and eventually put out the fire with the assistance of a commercial water tanker driver in the area.

    Some residents of other buildings close to the factory evacuated their belongings for fear that the inferno would spread to their houses.

    One of the fire fighters, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that they encountered logistics problems in their efforts to put out the fire.

    The Police Public Relations Officer of the state, Mr Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed the incident to NAN on phone.

    Ogbonna also said that no life was lost in the incident and that the fire had been successfully controlled.

    NAN