Fire fighters from the Federal and Lagos State Fire Services, who on 19 March, 2010 spent almost four hours fighting a fire at the Police Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos State, said the lack of fire prevention training by the police contributed to the fire which razed the exhibit unit, monitoring unit and surveillance section of the command.
‘Highly ignorant’
A fire superintendent attached to the Federal Fire Service, who did not want to be named, said the police did not have fire fighting equipment within its premises. He said if the police had fire extinguishers along with fire sensors and sprinklers, the damage of the fire, which razed substantial police evidence and documents, would have being minimal.
“The Police are highly ignorant of what fire precaution is about. They didn’t even have a single fire extinguisher, no fire prevention equipment, nothing. They have never called us to put them through basic fire precaution drill. We just thank God there was no casualty because they don’t even have any first aid,” said the superintendent.
Collateral damage
Assessing the damage of the fire which started at about 11am, the federal controller of works, Ejike Mgbemena, said the fire, which burned directly below the Five Cowry Bridge linking Victoria Island and Onikan, would have some negative impact on the bridge.
“From the look of things, it looks severe,” he said. “It is likely that the fire will affect the structure of the bridge negatively. We believe it is serious. We are working with Julius Berger and in some few hours we will be placing restrictions on the bridge as precaution measures.”
Some police officers NEXT spoke with gave various accounts of the cause of the fire. While some said the fire was caused by an electrical fault, others said the fire was triggered by flame from a food vendor’s stove that caught an electrical wire close to the exhibit room.
Under investigation
However, Azubuko Udah, who is the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, which oversees Lagos and Ogun States, said the cause of the fire is still being investigated. He said the situation could have being worse if not for the intervention of the fire services with additional support from some private companies which brought their fire service trucks.
“I was just alerted of the fire as I was away at a meeting. The cause of the fire is still being investigated and I will liaise with my men to know what happened. But I thank God because it could have been worse if not for the fire service that checkmated the incident and put out the fire,” he said.
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