A fire broke out early Friday at a 7-storey building on Sanni Adewale Street in Lagos Island, Lagos. According to Margaret Adeseye, Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, no lives were lost in the incident.
The fire service received an emergency call at 5:17 am, and firefighters from Ebute Elefun, Sari, and Lekki 1 stations arrived at the scene by 5:33 am. The fire impacted several shops within the building.
In a statement, Adeseye said: “On August 16th, 2024, at 05:17 hours, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to a fire outbreak at Sanni Adewale Street in the Lagos Island Local Government Area. The fire affected multiple shops in a 7-storey building. Firefighters from Ebute Elefun, Sari, and Lekki 1 stations responded swiftly, reaching the location by 05:33 hours.”
The fire service managed to bring the situation under control, and ventilation efforts were ongoing to ensure the safety of the area. Preliminary investigations indicate that an electrical surge may have caused the fire. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.
Earlier this year, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service reported that 50 lives were lost in fire incidents between January and June 2024, reflecting a troubling increase in fire-related fatalities.
Margaret Adeseye, the director of the agency, provided this information to SaharaReporters, noting that Lagos also experienced at least 10 building collapses during this time. The agency’s data showed that eight people died in January, four in February, five in March, eight in April, 23 in May, and two in June. In total, the fire service responded to 1,085 fire-related emergencies and rescued 223 people in the first half of 2024.
One significant incident occurred on June 26, 2024, at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in the Lekki Free Zone, near Lagos.
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