Victims count losses after fire at Iddo train terminus

PROPERTY and goods that included cartons of batteries, candles, hand saniters, nails, nosemasks and bags made with sack were lost in thefire outbreak that occurred at the Iddo Terminus of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).

The fire was still raging 24 hours when Naija Times visited the scene at 3pm today.

Owners of buildings, traders whose makeshift stalls and goods got burnt could be seen lamenting their losses and appealing to the state government co come to their aid.

The fire accident occurred on Sunday, and it was said to be as a result of power surge following the restoration of electricity by a Disco serving the area.

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and Fire Service were on ground working to put out the fire on Sunday. The two agencies were reportedly mobilised to the scene of the disaster almost immediately the outbreak began.

Arriving at the terminus, the reporter saw a water truck driving out of the complex probably to get refilled. Another water truck was seen serving some firemen water in order to put out the fire which seemed emboldened by the combustible items stored in the about four warehouses that were already gutted by fire. 

 At a section of the fire scene, efforts were being made to rescue some of the items stored in one of the warehouses.

At the opposite end of the warehouse where rescue operation was ongoing were some residents and scavengers picking just about anything in sight. While some were picking burnt metals, roof sheet and irons, others were scavenging nosemasks, hand sanitisers, water bottles and sack bags.

Some of these items were being sold at the scene at giveaway prices. For instance, three water bottles were sold at N500.

It was not everyone who could dare to go into the warehouse to pick the items as smoke and small fire were still burning within two of the warehouses were the items were being scavenged.

The numbers of perons who were picking the items reduced by about 50 per cent when at a point there was a small explosion and the tempo of the fire increased. All the scanvegers ran out, but some were not deterred as they returned about five minutes later. This is despite the thick smoke coming out of the warehouse and fire still burning at a section of the hall.

An eyewitness, who simply gave his name as Tajudeen, disclosed that the fire started at the makeshift rooms built behind the warehouses within the terminus. He added that because the makeshift rooms were built with wood this made it easy for the fire to spread to the warehouses.

 He however said the lack of love among the residents was why the fire escalated, otherwise there would have been joint efforts to put out the fire before it spread to the warehouses; but many watched unconcerned as the fire raged.

 On the possible value of what must have been lost, he said he could not but estimated it could run into hundreds of millions of naira. 

He added that aside the goods inside the warehouses, personal items of those living in the makeshift rooms which were more than 20 also got lost in the incident.

In a statement,  LASEMA said the fire incident which was transmitted to LASEMA’s control room at 6:35 p.m February 14th, 2021, broke out behind the shanties behind the warehouse at the NRC owned Iddo Rail Terminus due to power surge when public power supply was restored.

 The DG/CEO LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu said: “The agency activated its response team to the above incident scene to discover a fire which was caused by a power surge when electricity was restored. 

  “While there appears to be no loss of life, the agency is working alongside the Lagos and Federal Fire Services to control the fire and curtail the extensive spread of the flames. 

“The fire which was ignited in the shanties and escalated to the warehouse behind the terminus, was still raging as at 2 a.m Monday 15th February, 2021 due to storage of combustible materials such as torchlights, batteries and cigarette lighters in the warehouse.

 “Concerted efforts are still being exerted in the overnight operation by LASEMA and other Stakeholders, to extinguish the fire by the Agency’s Response Teams, alongside the LRU Fire, Lagos State Fire Service and Federal Fire service, in the ongoing operation.”

On its part, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service said it saved 23 warehouses in Iddo area of Lagos from being razed by an inferno that destroyed eight warehouses and structures.  

The Acting Controller, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Mrs. Margaret Adeseye, said the agency “received a fire alert on Sunday at about 1805 hours from Shed area, Iddo/Otto, Ebute Meta in Lagos Mainland Local Government that some Warehouses were in flames and “action was immediately taken with the deployment of two Fire Engines and Crew to combat the situation”. 

The fire service boss further explained that on arrival at the scene, it was discovered that the fire had engulfed a warehouse while spreading to eight others in a row and column of about 31 warehouses.

She disclosed that firefighting operations began in earnest to curtail the spread while 23 warehouses were saved in the ongoing operations that lasted all night. 

 She added that the warehousing arrangement with wrong stacking and piling of goods hampered operations while helping to spread the fire. Adeseye said items stored in the warehouses included candle wax, lighters, batteries, polish, among others. 

“The preliminary investigation reveals that the fire emanated from shanty structures used for residential purpose behind the warehouse as a result of carelessness, engulfing one of the warehouses before spreading to others,” she stated.

Confirming that no life was lost in the incident, Adeseye said the agency, in collaboration with the Federal Fire Services, Julius Berger Fire Department, LASEMA  and the Nigeria Police will complete the ongoing mop-up shortly.