Dare Babalola
There was tension in Awka, the capital of Anambra State as a filling station was razed by fire.
Confirming this, the Anambra State Fire Chief, Chukwudi Chiketa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incident happened during the discharge of petroleum products.
Identified as Okeb Filling Station located on the Awka axis of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, the facility reportedly lost over N100 million due to the fire incident.
Chiketa claimed that the authorities of the filling station did not alert their service earlier, leading to many losses.
Chiketa said that the incident was regrettable and could have been avoided if the discharge had been done at night, while urging petrol station operators to inculcate the habit of discharging their product at night.
He also urged owners of gas stations to always keep safety fire equipment such as industrial fire extinguishers beside sand buckets and make their workplace spacious and accessible in case of emergencies.
He said that over six petrol pump stands, the truck conveying the product, and three other utility vehicles were razed in the fire.
The state fire chief appealed to the public to call his personal phone number 080 69654255 for quicker assistance in addition to the emergency phone line in times of need.
Reacting to the incident, Mr Okechukwu Ebele, owner of the filling station and Chief Executive Officer, Okeb Filling Station in Amawbia, said that though he lost a lot to the incident, he remained grateful to God for the safety of the lives of his workers present at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness, Mr Uche Ifeleoma, an artisan at the scene of the event, said that a truck arrived at the station with a Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to discharge, but the services of an electrical person were needed before the discharge was done.
He said that the service of an electrical person was engaged, but unfortunately, while working on the truck, an electrical spark occurred, igniting the fire, and before any control could happen, the fire overwhelmed the people on site.
“We made frantic efforts to contact the state fire services’ attention through the emergency phone line when it was obvious that the sand buckets were not going to be useful, but the phone lines were not going through.
“I did not know how the state fire service heard, and they arrived at the scene about 2:40 pm, and luckily the restaurant building was saved, and some small parts of the complex,” he narrated.
The facilities in Okeb filling station consist of a PMS, DPK, AGO, Mini Mart, Lubricant, and Restaurant, amongst other sections.
