A devastating fire erupted on Tuesday in Dosumu Market, located in the Lagos Island area of Lagos State, engulfing no fewer than 14 buildings and causing the collapse of four structures.
The Lagos Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident, attributing the cause of the fire to the careless refueling of a generator in one of the buildings’ penthouses. He expressed concerns about the challenges faced by emergency responders in accessing some affected areas due to the intensity of the blaze.
“As of now, four buildings have collapsed while 14 buildings were affected by the fire,” Farinloye stated. “The fire started from the penthouse of one of the buildings where a man was carelessly refueling a generator, before it spread to other buildings. The presence of multiple generators in the building exacerbated the situation.”
Numerous goods worth millions of naira were reported destroyed in the fire, which originated from a three-story building on Jankara Street before spreading to adjacent structures within the market.
Providing additional details on the incident, the Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, corroborated NEMA’s assessment of the affected buildings. Adeseye highlighted that the storage of fuel products and chemical materials within the building contributed to the fire’s rapid escalation.
“The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service has successfully contained a major fire incident affecting 14 buildings, with two structures fully collapsed and two partially collapsed,” Adeseye said. “The cause was traced to refueling a generator among others, with fuel storage in kegs at the penthouse of a three-building complex housing a printing shop with chemical contents.”
She further emphasized that firefighting operations had been completed, with damping ongoing to prevent reignition. Adeseye cautioned the public to exercise caution when handling combustible materials to avert future fire disasters.
This unfortunate incident adds to a series of fire outbreaks that have plagued Lagos State in recent months, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced fire safety measures and public awareness campaigns to prevent such tragedies in the future.
