In a series of fire occurrences in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, 42 persons were burned to death and N14.62 billion worth of property was damaged.
Adeseye Margaret Abimbola, the director of the Lagos State Fire Services, revealed this in the organization’s mid-year activity report.
The report covered the period from January to June 2023.
She said that between January and June 2023, 1,462 crises were recorded, including 924 fire cases, 92 rescue cases, 41 salvage instances, three explosions, two building collapses, and 400 bogus calls.
Adeseye revealed that 42 victims were found dead, while the organization managed to save 177 patients in total.
“The estimated properties saved is about N87.72 billion, leaving the properties loss to N14.62 billion,” the speaker said.
According to the Fire Director, investigations showed that carelessness and negligence were the main contributors to the accident, and that the incidence of fires rose significantly from the same time compared to the prior year.
Additionally, she saw that there was a rise in unfavorable calls that persisted as a result of the new approach of responding to distress calls without double-checking for fraudulent calls.
He said that there were additional causes, such as climate change and the widespread use of home gas as an alternative fuel, which also contributed to the rise in fire breakouts.
Therefore, the Fire chief advised the public to refrain from practices that would place undue strain on the state’s Fire Service operations while reassuring them that the organization has what it took to ensure the reduction of fire breakouts.