It was a pitiable sight yesterday at the Alapeju section of the multi-billion naira Ladipo International Spare Parts Market, Mushin, in Lagos, as residents and traders struggled to rescue their goods following an inferno that engulfed a section of the market and nearby residential building at dawn.
For the timely intervention of men of the Lagos State Fire Service, who were able to put out the inferno on time, it would have spread to other buildings and other sections of the market.
Apart from the fire service, other responders at the scene included the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the Federal Fire Service.
Although the actual cause of the fire is still unknown, President-General, Ladipo Central Executive Auto Dealers Association (LCEADA), Jude Nwankwo, told The Guardian that the fire started from a shop ostensibly as a result of electrical problems and escalated to the residential building housing shops.
He also said goods worth millions of naira were lost in the fire.
Nwankwo said the fire started from a single storey building used for selling motor parts.
According to him, the fire started from a shop ostensibly as a result of electrical problems and escalated to the residential building, which had attached rented shops.
The fire, he said, spread fast because attached shops were not decked.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, said the fire had been put out.
He commended responders for ensuring that the ire did not escalate.
In a related development, another fire gutted a building at No. 36 Abeokuta Expressway, in the Dopemu area of Lagos.
The spokesman for the state fire service, Amodu Shuabu, however, appealed to residents to maintain peace as efforts were on to put out the raging inferno.
