A fire broke out on Sunday night at the Kara Quarters Market on the Atani Road in Anambra State’s Ogbaru Local Government Area, destroying a yet to be ascertained amount of products and property.
As of the time of filing this report, the reason of the fire outbreak had yet to be formally determined, however PUNCH learned from eyewitnesses that it could have been caused by a power surge.
While no one was killed, reports indicated that the fire, which broke out at approximately 11:05 p.m., required the state fire service team’s assistance for several hours in order to put out and stop it from spreading to a factory and a nearby church.
According to some eyewitnesses, the fire began in one of the stores and spread before firefighters arrived.
The source said, “We suddenly observed that thick smoke was coming out from one of the shops and shortly after, it resulted in a fire. We are suspecting it to be a result of a power surge because it occurred shortly after power was restored in the vicinity.
“A distress call was sent to the firefighters and it took them several efforts and interventions before the fire was put out. Although, some shops and properties were burnt in the inferno, some structures including a church and a factory nearby were also saved from being razed down by the sudden fire outbreak.”
The state fire agency verified the incident in a statement on Monday, saying that the distress call was received about 11:14 p.m. on Sunday, and that the firefighters who were dispatched brought the fire to a halt, preventing it from spreading to other nearby structures.
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The statement read, “As of the time of filing this report, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, as none of the dwellers could give account of how the fire started.
“While the cause of the fire outbreak is yet to be ascertained, some properties were destroyed during the incident, although, there was no loss of life.
“The traders and dwellers were advised to always switch off their electrical appliances when not in use, fix wirings and connections to avoid power surges, and monitor cooking gas linkages in their homes, to avoid explosion.
“We consoled those who lost their property during the fire outbreak. There was no loss of life, nor injury recorded. The crew returned back to the station at about 01:30hrs.”
