Fire razes multi-million naira store in Ogun

An early morning inferno yesterday razed down goods worth several millions of naira at a three-storey electronic store in Abeokuta, Ogun State. New Telegraph gathered that the fire, which emanated from a paint shop on the ground floor of the building about 6am, spread to the upper floor of the store, destroying all the goods.

 

The store, located at Totoro area of Abeokuta metropolis, housed electronics, electrical appliances and other household items. The store is owned by a popular dealer, who has different electronic stores in different parts of Abeokuta.

 

While the cause of the fire remained unknown, many residents in the area attributed the outbreak to the high voltage of electricity in the community in the early hours of yesterday. Wreckage of electronic appliances, like fridges, air conditioners, and television sets destroyed by the fire, littered the ground at the scene of the inferno.

 

Officials of the State Fire Service arrived the scene at 7.15am, but it took them about one hour to finally put out the fire. The state Director of Fire Service, Mr. Fatai Adefala (an engineer), attributed the cause of the fire to a power surge.

 

The director added that some combustible goods being sold at the paint store fuelled the inferno. Adefala said the service got the distress call regarding the fire at 6.52am, but before the firefighters got there, the inferno had escalated.

 

The director explained it took the combined efforts of various fire stations to put out the inferno. He added: “It’s a complex, a three-storey building where varieties of things are sold. What assisted the fire is the paint. They are selling paint in one of the shops and paint is a combustible material.

 

It thereby ignited the fire. No life is lost. “As I am talking, we are still on ground trying to do a turner to make sure that the fire is totally out. But for now, the fire is under control.”