The importance of having a viable firefighting team was recently re-emphasised with the recent prevention of what would have been a deadly inferno at the residential areas in Satellite Town, one of the many suburbs that dot Lagos.
Confirming the incident, the Command Information Officer, Commander Tom Otuji, said the incident happened about 2:30pm November 20, 2019.
He noted that the Fire Fighting Unit of the Nigerian Navy Ship WEY, Ojo received a distress call from a resident of Close 40, House 12 in Satellite Town, Lagos.
The fire outbreak was suspected to have been caused as a result of electrical breach from one of the apartments.
He said the Nigerian Navy Fire Fighting team swiftly mobilised and responded to the emergency call and effectively engaged the fire incident to a standstill.
Narrating his ordeal, one of the residents in the area, Engineer Chamberlin Emele said the cause of the inferno could be attributed to power surge because the incident started when power was restored to the apartment.
He however added that the quick intervention of the team from the navy’s fire unit prevented the spread of the fire to other adjoining properties in the area.
In response, Otuji said as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, the Nigerian Navy will continue to assist the general public especially in response to emergencies/other security challenges faced by members of the public, such as the fire incident that was tackled head-on thereby preventing loss of lives and properties.
However, he said members of the public are therefore enjoined to provide credible information to Nigerian Navy units in their locations for timely actions.