Tank farm explodes in Lagos

A wild fire yesterday razed an oil tank farm belonging to Stallionaire Oil at Ijegun, Satellite town, Lagos State. The fire, which went almost out of control, caused panic among residents of Satellite Town and Ojo area. Thankfully, no human life was lost.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) officials were able to contain the inferno by deploying state of the art emergency equipment. Spokesman of the agency, Adebayo Kehinde, who spoke with newsmen at the scene, said there was no need for panic as the agency had put adequate measures in place to ensure that the fire does not escalate.

According to him, “the agency was alerted through the emergency toll free line 112/767 concerning a fire outbreak at Stallionaire Oil Depot, Ijegun Satelite Town. The agency activated its emergency response plan with relevant stakeholders. On getting to the scene, it was discovered the facility, which is a fuel depot comprising five tank farms, of which one was filled with PMS, exploded and resulted into a big inferno.

“However, adequate and prompt responses by the emergency responders made up of the Lagos State Fire Service, LASEMA Response Unit Fire Unit, Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Navy Tender Fire Service, FRSC, National Emergency Management Agency, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, RRS, Nigeria Police Force, Julius Berger Plc and other oil firms fire tenders helped to curtail the inferno to only the PMS tank, while others (AGO and DPK) tanks were salvaged from the inferno.”

The General Manager of LASEMA, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu, said proper investigation would be conducted on the incident. He, however, emphasized the need for owners and managers of oil and gas companies to always ensure that proper emergency response plan is put in place in their tank farms.

The inferno resulted in heavy gridlock in the axis, as vehicular and human movements were restricted.