Goods destroyed as midnight fire razes Anambra market

A yet-to-be-ascertained worth of goods and properties have been destroyed in a fire outbreak that occurred at the Kara Quarters Market, along the Atani Road in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State on Sunday night.

The cause of the fire outbreak is yet to be officially ascertained as of the time of filing this report, but our correspondent gathered from eyewitnesses that it could be a result of a power surge.

Although there was no loss of life, it was gathered that the fire which started at about 11:05 pm, took the intervention of the state fire service team several hours to quench and prevented it from escalating to the nearby church and a factory.

Some of the eyewitnesses present at the scene said the fire started from one of the shops and started escalating before the firefighters were called for intervention.

The source said, “We suddenly observed that thick smoke was coming out from one of the shops and shortly after, it resulted in a fire. We are suspecting it to be a result of a power surge because it occurred shortly after power was restored in the vicinity.

“A distress call was sent to the firefighters and it took them several efforts and interventions before the fire was put out. Although, some shops and properties were burnt in the inferno, some structures including a church and a factory nearby were also saved from being razed down by the sudden fire outbreak.”

A video from the scene of the fire incident also shows parts of the saved structures and factory, as well as eyewitnesses and traders recounting their losses.

The state fire agency confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday, adding that the distress call was received at about 11:14 pm on Sunday, and the firefighters, who were deployed fought the fire to a standstill, preventing it from escalating to other nearby structures.

The statement read, “As of the time of filing this report, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, as none of the dwellers could give account of how the fire started.

“While the cause of the fire outbreak is yet to be ascertained, some properties were destroyed during the incident, although, there was no loss of life.

“The traders and dwellers were advised to always switch off their electrical appliances when not in use, fix wirings and connections to avoid power surges, and monitor cooking gas linkages in their homes, to avoid explosion.

“We consoled those who lost their property during the fire outbreak. There was no loss of life, nor injury recorded. The crew returned back to the station at about 01:30hrs.”