One dies, houses, others razed in inferno

THIS year’s Eid El Fitri celebrations would remain fresh in the minds of residents of Temitope Street in Ilasamaja, Lagos, but not for the feast.

Instead, the period presented them a banquet of sorrows and grief following a midnight fire on Saturday, July 18, 2015, that took the life of a teenager, simply identified as Lekan, completely razed a house on No.9 and substantially damaged two adjoining others, burnt two vehicles and electrical facilities.

Three other persons said to have been injured were receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in the area. The deceased, who lived a few houses from the ones directly affected, was said to have slumped after he was woken from sleep while the fire raged and later died at the hospital.

But residents of the street claimed on Monday that he was probably electrocuted by the charred electric cables on the razed pole in front of the building snapped and its effect jolted the neigbhourhood, while the transformers sparked simultaneously, causing intermittent power surge.

Prompt and untiring, but fruitlessly too, the residents emptied the stagnant gutter on the street and the boreholes on the inferno, until the Lagos State Fire Service laboriously maneuvre through the almost inaccessible road into the street after about two hours of the fire.

They ultimately put out the fire after a good fight, good enough to leave the two adjacent one-story buildings partly burnt, but all that was left of the bungalow were charred blocks and heaps of ashes from the residents’ belongings.

Owner of the razed bungalow, Musbau Muritala, helpless and forlorn, narrated that the LT bus, believed to be conveying some chemical substances and accompanied by two others, which escaped, caught fire and exploded by his apartment as the driver struggled to climb the bad spot. He said the police from the Ilasamaja station had already visited the scene.

Flanked by his weeping sister, Ganiat, with the entire family now homeless and bereft of everything they once called theirs, Musbau could only gaze aimlessly at the charred remains of what used to be his eight-room and four-shop house. He appealed to the state government and all public-spirited individuals to assist his family.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member representing Oshodi/Isolo constituency in the Lagos House of Assembly, Jude Idimogu, who said he was informed of the incident by an Igbo community leader in the area, Charles Ihuoma, was on hand to see the extent of damage and commiserate with the victims.

Idimogu, who visited the scene on Monday, promised the victims some immediate assistance, while assuring that he would bring the incident to the attention of the lawmakers as they resume from the Eid El Fitri break.

He deplored the nature of the roads in the area, which he learnt hindered the firefighters from getting to the venue early enough. He appealed to the public to help the victims return to normal life.