Several shops were yesterday gutted by fire in the Dugbe Alawo area of Ibadan, Oyo State, the commercial hub of Ibadan.
Two big structures (a bungalow and a storey building) housing the shops were badly affected by the fire.
Although no life was lost in the outbreak, properties worth several millions of naira perished in the incident.
Some vehicles also perished in the occurrence.
Traders and other residents of the area defied the partial lockdown directive by the state government as they went to the scene.
Some of the affected traders called for help, while others tried to salvage their wares during the incident.
Firefighters from the Central Bank of Nigeria were on hand to support the men of the state fire service in putting out the fire.
It was learnt that the fire outbreak emanated from an electric spark that started from welding equipment.
One of the affected traders, Wale Adepoju, said the fire started few minutes after 1pm.
He said, “The fire came from the shop of a man who, in a bid to demarcate his shop into two, invited a welder. A spark was ignited while the welder was working. It resulted in the fire.”
The Chief Fire Officer, Oyo State Fire Service, Adewuyi Moshood, said, “The fire started in the afternoon and we were not called on time. By the time we were called, we could see the smoke right from the state secretariat. That showed that the fire was full before they called the fire service.
“They probably had been trying to put out the fire and and only called us when things had got out of hand. I appeal to residents to call the fire service immediately fire occurs. That will prevent a lot of damage.”
