ASABA/Nigeria: Residents in Delta State have been advised on the need for safety and caution during the dry seasons to avoid fire outbreaks.
The Commissioner for Special Duties, Hon Johnbull Edema, gave the advice when he paid an on-the-spot assessment of over eight makeshift shops that were razed by fire at Esisi Road in Warri.
Hon. Edema said that in the last one week, several buildings worth millions of naira in Warri and its environs had been razed by fire.
Present at Esisi Road shortly after the fire razed over eight makeshift shops, mostly owned by furniture makers, Hon Edema stressed that residents and shop owners should be careful with combustibles, especially during the dry seasons.
The commissioner, who is also the head of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), said that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa had been informed of the fire incident and sympathised with the victims.
Commiserating with the shop owners, Hon Edema said that officers of the SEMA would set up an investigative team to ascertain the damage done by the fire and provide succour to them.
One of the fire fighters alleged that the fire outbreak was caused by the burning of a waste dump closed to the shops, adding that they were able to prevent the fire from other shops close to the affected stores.
A victim of the fire incident who spoke with newsmen stated that the incident occurred at about 11a.m, adding that they tried to put it off with water from the nearby river before the arrival of the operatives of the State Fire Service.
Some other victims that spoke on conditions of anonymity also alleged that the origin of the fire remained a mystery, even as they appealed to the state government and other good-spirited Nigerians to come to their aid as they had lost so much to the fire incident.
