Fire Incidents have been one occurrence that has not been resolved in the Amuwo Odofin Community especially Festac Town.
In 2016 , there were several incidents that claimed lives , properties , documents and even left many homeless and devastated.
It is a community where residents and victims are left to their fate due to negligence of the Government to put up a functioning Fire service in a whole Local Government Area, Amuwo Odofin
Out of the Fire incidents that occurred in the community , see the 11 Major Fire incidents that happened
11 Fire Incidents In Amuwo Odofin Community In 2016
1. Coscharis Office guts fire January 19th 2016
The Mazamaza Lagos office of Coscharis Group of Companies was gutted by fire which destroyed several vehicles and car care products value such as forklifts, medium trucks, brand new SUVs and several cars and pick ups were worth far above N100 million.
The fire, which started at about 8 am was put out around 10.30 am by sympathisers who assisted the company’s security men in battling the inferno. But by then the damage had been done.
Although, fire fighters from Ojo, Lagos arrived the Coscharis office at about 10:15 am, when the fire was already contained, they assisted in putting out the fire completely.
Over 15 vehicles including trucks, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), sedans and pick ups as well as forklifts, were completely burnt by the fire. Also consumed by the fire outbreak were several care products which littered the premises of the company.
2. Navy Town Market – March 4th 2016
Navy town was not spared from this disaster as a section of the market inside the Ojo Navy Barracks (Satellite Town) Lagos was reduced to rubbles with at least 121 shops affected and goods worth millions of Naira destroyed.
The fire which started at about 4am was noticed by a security man , then Fire Service was alerted when some Naval officers responded to the alarm.
Goods lost to the fire include clothing, shoes, jewelries, cosmetics, beverages as well as different types of food stuffs. 95 per cent of the effected people are widows and wives of retired Naval officers.These women, who are the bread winners of their families.
The Food stuff sellers section was completely razed as no single shop was spared.
3. Mazamaza Again- March 18th 2016
Residents of Yusuf Street, Mazamaza, in the Mile 2 area of Lagos State faced an inferno that destroyed no fewer than three houses, including a church.
The fire started after power was restored at around 3pm which spread from the first house to two other houses. It was about to spread to the fourth house when residents curtailed it. A church was also burnt.
When the firefighters arrived around 3.54pm, the fire had already done a lot of damage. Angry youths chased them away.
About 100 people were said to have been displaced, while property estimated at millions of naira was lost to the fire.
4. April 04, 2016
Two adjoining buildings in Festac was gutted by fire and angry youths -attacked men of the fire service and broke the glasses of their trucks for arriving late…
5. Fire At 3rd Avenue August 1st 2016
On the evening of 1st of August 2016 , O close 3rd avenue was thrown into panic as one of the Semi-duplex in the close caught fire.
The house before the hospital that caught fire and it was almost affecting the roof of the hospital. The affected house was the semi-duplex for House 1 & 3 which also houses an hospital.
The fire started at around 6pm from the landlord’s sons room and he was at home when the fire broke out . It is still unconfirmed what caused the fire , but some still insist it was electrical fault. The fire spread , destroying the ceiling & roof of two rooms upstairs behind.
Members of the LRU were present to help out, even when the fire flared up again .The terrible and sad part is that the Fire services for Festac Town is just less than a kilometre ,a two minute walk from the scene , on the same road.
There was no response from the fire service personnel. The supposed fire service is just less than a kilometre from the fire incidence and nothing was done to solve the issue. At about 9:30pm – 10:00pm the fire was put out , no lives were lost and affected family counting their loss.
6. Fire At Eko Akette – August 19th 2016
At about 5:30pm fire engulfed a block of flat on Eko Akette Street, new road opposite redeemers floodgate school , Amuwo Odofin. It was a pathetic and helpless situation as the fire razed and of course there was no fire service to come through immediately as the fire service in festac is not functional .
It was quite a helpless situation as the residents quickly evacuated their cars from around and also themselves . The fire started with the topmost flat as according to source , it happened as a result of Gas explosion.
The Ojo Fire service was called and tried to come in time to save and stop the fire , by the time they had arrived so much damage had occurred as even the next flat was affected.
The fire was still on at about 7pm and had reached the last flat on that floor . At around 7:30pm the second Fire service truck arrived. .
7.Fire At 21 Road – September 4 2016
A duplex was destroyed in the morning when the residents were in church . The fire services came late and to no avail part of the building was totally destroyed.
8. Hakeem Agboola Tragedy September 13
We lost an innocent baby to fire tragedy at Hakeem Agboola Crescent as the 5-months old baby, Jessica Ifeanyichukwu, was reportedly burnt alive when fire gutted the house .
The mother, Ndubuisi left her apartment to start a small generator, but had difficulty doing so. She went back inside her apartment, but returned a moment later to start a bigger generator instead.
On her second return to her upstairs flat, the fire had begun, with her baby in it.The fire was said to have spread into the adjoining apartment where the landlord resides. No one knew what caused the fire.
The fire was put out by a team of policemen and the state fire-fighters who came late as usual.
9. Fire At Super market October 13th 2016
Mart-New Supermarket Festac Town, on 41 road, Omole Plaza Festac town caught fire but no casualty , luck enough the fire was able to be contained and less damages to goods in the supermart.
10. Fire At 5th Avenue – October 24th 2016
A massive and terrible fire incident engulfed a duplex on 5th avenue e close late in the evening . It was a terrible incident as the house , cars and properties were destroyed . Leaving the widow and her children to homelessness.
11. Fire At 5th Avenue December 30th 2016
On 30th of December 2016 , a flat on 5th avenue also caught fire but the residents and neighbours with help were able to stop the spread of fire.
These are just few fire incidents that happened in the community and the fire services were of no good due to their delayed and late response time , also owing to the fact that the assumed fire services in the community is non-functional.
Was there any fire incidents in your area that we left out ? Please kindly share below .