Again, fire guts Enugu Timber market

•Fire razes shops, properties in Dugbe market

For the second time this year, the Enugu Timber Market located in Enugu South Local Council was at the weekend gutted by fire, which destroyed property worth several millions of naira.

The incident is coming barely six months after a similar one in the market, and the cause could not be ascertained by press time. Saturday’s incident caused severe damage as several shops with timber, finished products like wooden doors and heavy duty machines were destroyed.

Some of the affected traders reported seeing thick smoke rising from the market as flames rapidly spread through the wooden structures, consuming a substantial quantity of timber and machines.

Firefighters from the Enugu State Fire Service responded promptly to distress calls from the traders and residents as they raced to the scene to battle the inferno.

An eyewitness said the firemen worked hard to put out the fire and to prevent the spread to other shops. Despite their efforts, the intensity of the fire posed considerable challenges, leading to fears for the safety of individuals in the vicinity.

However, there have been no reported casualties but several traders have suffered significant financial losses due to the destruction of their goods.
Chairman of the Enugu Timber Association, Mr Ugochukwu Nwatu, stated that the cause of the fire could not be immediately ascertained but confirmed that the inferno affected many shops belonging to the timber dealers.

A similar fire outbreak occurred in the timber market in June this year destroying over 10 shops.

ALSO, about three shops and properties valued at several millions of naira were on Sunday morning destroyed when fire gutted the popular Dugbe Market in Ibadan North West Local Council of Oyo State.

The Guardian gathered that the incident, which occurred at about 12:25a.m., threw the affected traders into mourning, while residents within the neighbourhood were left in a state of panic.

Confirming the incident, a senior officer, Oyo State Fire Service, Mr I. A. Adeleke in his report traced the fire to burning of refuse unattended to by the occupants of the premises.

He warned residents against indiscriminate burning of refuse and bush. He said: “The fire incident was reported to our agency at about 00:25 hours on Sunday through a mobile by a good Samaritan.

“The personnel of the Agency were quickly deployed to the scene of the incident and on getting there, three shops had already been razed with all the goods inside while we were able to save 13 shops, which were almost consumed.”

Following the efforts towards extinguishing the fire, he said, the agency had to educate the people on proper ways of preventing fire incident, especially during the Harmattan period and how to control it at incipient stage.

Similar fire disaster occurred at the Christ Apostolic Church, Olorunda Aba during a Christmas Carol service on Friday night.