Fire rages at Balogun Street, Idumota, Lagos

By Ifeanyi Eduzor
Activities at the ever busy Balogun Street, Idumota, Lagos was disrupted this morning when fire broke out at the last floor of 32 Balogun Street.
The fire which started as early as 10am when traders where displaying their wares threw the entire business premises into disarray with many of the traders who have their shops in the six storey building running helter skelter inorder to salvage their wares.
An eye witness account attributed the fire to a faulty generator in the top floor of the building.
Although fire fighters from UBA, Federal Fire Service and Lagos State Fire Service arrived on time to fight the the inferno but found it difficult accessing the building because of the cluster of buildings around the area.
However, it took the decision of the fire fighters and traders to destroy some of the make shift structures within the vicinity for the fire fighters to gain access to the building.
Some of the affected traders while bemoaning their loss expressed regrets at the frequent occurrence of fire outbreaks in Lagos which they blamed on greedy developers who don’t make provisions for spaces where generators would be installed.
Also speaking, one of the fire fighters who pleaded anonymity frowned at the way buildings and make shift structures are constructed without making provision for access road in case of emergency and appealed to Lagos State Government to take the issue serious.
As at the time of filling this report, the fire fighters are still battling the fire to prevent it from spreading to other floors and surrounding buildings.