Goods worth million of naira have been destroyed in the popular Balogun Market on Lagos Island, Lagos, today.
A three-storey commercial building of lock-up shops in the market is where the fire started.
There was weeping and wailing as the fire rose in the sky with thick smokes bellowing the atmosphere. Officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA battled the raging inferno.
Huge crowd thronged the arena, preventing fire service officials and others from carrying out their duties effectively.
Helpless traders watched in awe as their investments went up in flames. It was like a movie scene, but it was real.
LASEMA team and other responders despite all difficulties, fought the fire, which raged till 5:00pm.
A LASEMA’s spokesman, Nosa Okunbor said emergency responders were on top of the situation as the fire which had affected almost every section of the building was at risk of spreading to other buildings next to it due to proximity and closeness.
“It is a situation which presented peculiar difficulties to responders to access the source of the fire in order to effectively put it out on time.
“Despite obstacles of inaccessibility via roads and set backs, as all the affected buildings are continuously built together in a conjoined manner, the combined efforts of LASEMA Response Team, Lagos State Fire Service, UBA Fire Service and Federal Fire Service are on ground with the DG/CEO LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, mustering and marshalling all necessary equipment and manpower in battling the raging fire,” he said.
