- Traders lament massive loss, major textile merchant affected by the fire
It’s a tears, tears and more tears as traders take toll of the fire that broke out at the popular Balogun market this morning.
The fire was localized to the three-storey commercial building located at 43, Martins Street, Lagos Island, made up of three floors of owned by popular Lagos Textile Merchant Brassas Fabrics and other lock-up shops.
Mostly affected by the fire is the wing owned by the popular textile merchant. It was not clear where the fire emanated or the cause of the fire, which badly affected brassas Fabrics, burning the edifice that is usually stoked to the brim to the floor.
Goods, especially textiles worth several million of naira were destroyed in the inferno.
Officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, are still battling to prevail on the raging fire.
Huge crowd thronged the area, preventing fire men from carrying out their duties effectively.
Helpless traders watch in awe as their investments were totally consumed by the fire.
LASEMA team and other responders despite all difficulties, are battling the fire, which has not abated as at 5:51pm. Sources said the fire began at about 7am.
A LASEMA’s spokesman, Nosa Okunbor said emergency responders were on top of the situation as the fire which has affected almost every section of the building is at risk of spreading to other buildings next to it due to proximity and closeness.
“It is a situation which presented peculiar difficulties to responders to access the source of the fire in order to effectively put it out on time. Despite obstacles of inaccessibility via roads and set backs, as all the affected buildings are continuously built together in a conjoined manner, the combined efforts of LASEMA Response Team, Lagos State Fire Service, UBA Fire Service and Federal Fire Service are on ground with the DG/CEO LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, mustering and marshalling all necessary equipment and manpower in battling the raging fire,” he said.
“So far there are no casualties, no fatalities and no injuries. Also, there’s been nobody trapped in any of the commercial buildings. Recovery operations still ongoing with the Skylight Fighter Truck fully activated and deployed to aid swift recovery, as dampening commences,” he added.
