It was a bleak Wednesday for traders at the multibillion naira Ladipo International Spare Parts Market, Mushin, as an early morning inferno destroyed 20 shops in the market.
The incident took place 33 days after the Alapeju section of the market was gutted by fire and destroyed over four shops.
It was learnt that yesterday’s fire started about 4:00 a.m. from a building housing some shops with combustible products such as engine oil, gear box oil, power steering oil and brake fluids.
However, providence prevented the fire from spreading to the nearby Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and United Bank of Africa (UBA).
Also, the intervention of men of the Lagos State Fire Service, who were able to put out the inferno on time, curtailed the spread of the fire to other buildings and sections of the market.
Apart from the fire service, other responders at the scene included the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the Federal Fire Service.
An eyewitness said most of the affected shops were located at Ladipo extension, which also has some residential buildings.
The witness, who gave his name simply as Collins, said, help was not quick to come because it happened at an odd time.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fire escalated because of lack of fire extinguishers and the nature of goods in the affected shops.
Speaking on the rescue operation, the Director-General and Chief Executive officer of LASEMA,
Dr. Olufemi Damilola Oke Osanyintolu, said the agency received distress calls on the incident around 0600hrs and activated its response plan.
“On arrival, the LRT discovered a storey building engulfed in flames.
The cause of the fire could not be ascertained as of the time of writing this report and no casualties have been recorded.
“Joint responders, comprising the agency and its fire service, LASG Fire service, are on ground making efforts to put the fire under control and prevent it from spreading to surrounding buildings,” he added.
When The Guardian left the scene at 5:00p.m. , the inferno had been completely extinguished by the agency’s fire team, LASG Fire, Service in collaboration with other stakeholders just as the entire area was cordoned off to avert any secondary incident.
President-General, Ladipo Central Executive Auto Dealers Association (LCEADA), Jude Nwankwo, said it was difficult to locate the source of the inferno.
Regretting that goods worth millions of naira have been lost to fire incidents in the market, he called for sustained sensitisation of the people to the need to have fire extinguishers and to turn off lights before leaving office.
He also called on security agencies to be on alert to avoid repeat of such incidents and avoid loss of money.
