A major market, Timber Shade in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, was at the weekend engulfed in flames which destroyed property worth millions of naira.
The inferno which reportedly started at about 1 am on Sunday, saw no fewer than 20 shops burnt down.
The state Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Dogara Dalhatu, who confirmed the incident, said the cause of the fire as at press time, was yet to be established.
Noting that the lack of space aided the spread of the fire before it was eventually put out, he said: “The members of the public are urged to always have fire extinguishers and other firefighting equipment in their shops and offices so that if fire incident occurs, they will be able to arrest the situation even without the presence of firefighters.
“We were informed at about 3am and we responded immediately. There is no truth that an empty tanker was brought to the scene.
“In cases like this, people look for scapegoats rather than blame themselves. Let us always be sincere in our criticism,” Dalhatu added.
The fire boss regretted that the government had recently asked the traders to relocate to the new site because of the congestion in the timber market, but they refused.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, United Timber Dealer Association, Lafia branch, Alhaji Adamu Ibrahim has disclosed that property lost to the inferno could not be less than N20m.
Based on eyewitness accounts, there was no equipment to fight the fire and all efforts by residents to put out the fire allegedly failed.
A witness who spoke with The Punch, said even the state firefighters, who came to the scene, arrived with an empty tanker.
“Later, another water tanker was brought with which the firefighter put out the fire. Otherwise, the entire place could have been razed to the ground. As it is, the level of destruction is devastating.
“We are yet to know the cause of the fire. We woke up and saw fire burning down some of our shops,” the unidentified witness added.
A member representing Toto/Gadabuke Constituency at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Mr. Seidu Galadima, said, “As a legislator, I will present the situation you are facing before other lawmakers in the state and promised to do everything humanly possible to ensure that the government compensates you.”
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