A fire incident occured at Oke Street in Akowonjo, Egbeda from Friday, January 28th to Saturday, January 29th, 2022.
The fire incident was said to have consumed a substantial chunk of the entire physical standing of a 12-flat building.
As AlimoshoToday gathered, the fire outbreak originated from an electric cooker which a tenant left plugged in before going out. The cooker was left on after a power outage, but caught fire after power was restored in the area around 8pm on Friday, with the tenant outside.
An eye witnessed reported, “My shop is near the building that got burnt. The power distribution company restored power around 8pm and after some time, we all noticed smoke coming out of the building. Everyone ran to check what led to the smoke, but it was late".
He went on, “The tenant in that room went out and his door was locked, so we had to break the door. But the fire had spread and despite all efforts, the house was burnt down. People called the fire service people, but before they got here, things had gone bad. Everybody in that house is now homeless and their property all gone”.
Chief Surajudeen Junaid, a community leader, said he had to call on the youth to help control the spreading flames before the fire service arrived.
“I called some of our young men and opened my borehole tap so that they could get water to put out the fire.
“I learnt that what led to the fire incident was that a tenant left his electric cooker on when power was off and upon restoration, he was not at home and this led to the burning down of the house.
“It is an unfortunate incident because as we are also in the thick of the harmattan season, as everyone knows, fire easily burns down things. So, before people could put out the fire, a better part of the building had been burnt. The people living in that house are now homeless, though we thank God that no one died”, said one Chief Junaid, a resident in the area and an eye witness.
