Fire on Monday gutted a twin building in Clobek Crown Estate, Lugbe in Abuja destroying property worth millions of Naira.
A correspondent who witnessed the incident said that the fire which was reported to have started around 4.00 p.m. was put off later when fire servicemen arrived.
No life was also lost in the incident.
Speaking on the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the estate who gave her name as Mrs. O. Aladesanmi said that the fire started with a spark from the roof of one of the twin buildings and spread to the other.
Aladesanmi said all efforts employed by neighbours including the use of fire extinguishers, water and other materials to put off the fire were unsuccessful.
She, however, alleged that the fire service men did not respond on time when a distress call was sent to them while she called for a change of attitude from them.
“The fire started from the roof with a spark and people around tried to put it off to no avail.
“One does not have control over electricity fire. Power supply has been unstable, and people have been careful with their appliances. Power just started stabilising a little,” she said.
Mr. Clement Adamson, Superintendent of Fire, Federal Fire Service, Sauka, Abuja who was on ground to put off the fire, said the service got a distress call during closing hour and was able to put off the fire and prevented it from spreading to other buildings.
Adamson urged residents to be fire conscious and ensure they have fire extinguishers in their houses.
“Fire is not a bomb that explodes, but starts from somewhere. It can be cut off from a point to stop it from spreading,” he said.
Adamson who said he could not presently ascertain the amount of damage called on the estate residents to ensure they do a risk assessment in the area to be able to know what should and not be done to avoid future outbreaks.
Narrating her experience, Mrs. Mabel Ujata, who lives in one of the affected flats said she noticed that the PVC in her house was cracking and when she came out, she saw smoke from her neighbour’s building.
Ujata said that with the help of people around, she was able to save a few things from her house from being burnt before the firefighters arrived.
She urged the firefighters to always respond on time when they receive distress calls adding that if they had responded on time, more of the property would have been saved.
