A plank market on Olakunle Ajibade street, Ojota was burnt to the ground this morning by a fire outbreak. As at the time of this report no reason as been adduced to the fire but people suspect it could have occurred as a result of a power fault in one of the shops.
Residents of the street were woken around 2am by shouts of fire which brought them in their multitudes into the street, they all stood by as the fire continued to unapologetically raze the wares of the plank dealers though minimal efforts were being made by some residents to prevent the fire from extending to neighbouring houses as they tried to douse the fire at its periphery with whatever device they could lay their hands on.
The first responders who were Hausa men were shouting Ligh!t Light! Instead of Fire! Fire! this made some valuable intervention time to be lost as residents did not understand what was going on initially.
The residential buildings could have been affected by the dancing flames if not for the relatively prompt response of the men of the fire service who were on site within 20-30 mins from the onset of the fire. The fire service men battled the fire with all the equipments they had by first dousing the flames that were beginning to extended to other houses but they had to go refill their tanks as they ran out of water supply at a time. They did their best but alas! the wares in the market was gone as many of the business men had just taken in new orders for the month. As some of the dealers stood by to count their losses, others were said to be rushing down to the site. An emotional dealer went into the fire to check what we believed was money kept in his shop but he was quickly pulled out and consoled before he committed suicide.
The residents appreciated the prompt response of the fire service and bravery of its men in smothering the fire outbreak but questions kept arising as to what has been lost. We can authoritatively say that by face value millions of naira is gone with the fire but thankfully no lives were lost.

they steal and loot, then they set fire to cover their tracks...

God is watching!

Of course, it's like breeding snails and complaining of slimmy marks on walls.

A plank is a fire inviting material.

Proper precautions should have been the focus.
I hope properties lost are minimal.