About N100 million worth of goods were destroyed on Thursday when fire
razed a five-storey shopping plaza at Balogun Market in Lagos state.
Those whose shops were not yet affected struggled to salvage their goods.
The Babaloja, Alhaji Tajudeen Baale, said over 200 shops were burnt
where shoes and rubber products were stored.
Baale said the disaster resulted from a spark owing to a surge in
electricity supply.
According to him, incidentally, the owner of the shop where the fire
started had not arrived at the market then. The fire spread to other
shops.
He said: “You can see the five-storey shoe plaza building up in
flames. Over 200 shops are inside there. This has been a recurrent
situation in this market. We urge Governor Akinwumi Ambode to build a
fire service station in this market. This will enable fire service men
to respond promptly when such cases arise.”
The fire, however, was contained by the combined efforts of the
Federal Fire Service personnel from Campus, Surulere and the officials
of the Lagos State Fire Service. Policemen from Ebute-Ero and Adeniji
Adele divisions cordoned off the scene to enhance crowd control.
Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) were
said to be on their way to the scene.
The Zonal Commander, Federal Fire Service, Campus headquarters, Mr S.
A. Musa, said the firefighters were called to arrest the situation
about 10:30am.
He said: “We have been here for more than two hours. We were told
about this incident around 10:30am.
“After assessing the situation, our focus was to contain the fire and
we have made tremendous effort. We have reached the stage of damping;
meaning fire is no longer billowing. We are very careful because of
the content of the shops made up of combustible items and rubber
materials.”
On the cause of the incident, Musa said the focus of his men for now
was to put out the fire.
According to him, other agencies are responsible for investigation
into the cause of the fire.
A shop owner, who identified himself simply as Mr Sam, said he had God
to thank because the fire was contained before reaching the fifth
floor where his shop is located.
He said: “We just loaded goods inside the shop yesterday. We thank God
we are not affected. We thank the Fire Service men who have done a
thorough and professional job today; otherwise the fire would have
spread to other buildings.”
Another trader, who pleaded anonymity, said “we sell shoes. Just
yesterday we stocked our warehouse with goods. This morning, they are
gone in flames.”