Fire Fighters from the Enugu State Fire Service quelled an inferno in a foam-ladened packing store within Ogbete Main Market, Enugu, on Monday.
The Director of the Service, Chief Okwudili Ohaa made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Enugu.
He said the swift response of the state fire service prevented the fire, which started around 1.20pm, from spreading to other parts of the market.
According to him, within five minutes of receiving the distress call from the Chairman of Enugu North LGA, Dr Ibenaku Onoh, and other concerned citizens at about 1:25 p.m., we arrived at the scene.
“In less than 10 minutes battling the raging fire with our officers attached to the Ogbete Main Market Fire Station, those from our headquarters in Ogui, market vigilante/security group; we contained the fire from the store where it started.
“The packing store is on top of the usual shops. So, no trading shop was affected.
“No life was lost. The valuables destroyed were few foams,” he noted.
Ohaa thanked the LG Chairman and other citizens for their swift call as well as other organisations and individuals that contributed to the extinguishing of the fire.
He attributed the cause of the inferno to an electrical surge, adding, “We discovered crowded electrical wiring in the affected packing store.”
Ohaa, however, urged the authority of the market to restore the original master plan of the market, which made provision for a free access way into the market.
“As I speak to you, the fire truck of the market provided by the state government is at the headquarters; since there is no space to park it in the market.
“And if you park the truck in the market, there is no access route for it to move swiftly, as traders’ wares occupy a large portion of the major access routes in the market,” he said.
