Thousands of people have lost their homes and sources of livelihood to fire disasters in the last three months, Daily Trust Saturday reports.
While some of the fire outbreaks were as a result of negligence on the side of the victims, others were beyond their control.
However, most of the victims attributed their losses to poor response mechanisms by firefighters who usually turn up at the scenes of the incidents rather late.
Some of those who spoke to our reporters said fire service units especially in the states have collapsed, hence their inability to tackle the increasing challenges.
Endless tragedies
Data compiled from newspaper reports on fire incidents between January and March 2022 showed that 700 shops were burnt and 688 makeshift shops were affected by these fire outbreaks across the country.
The data also showed that five schools were affected, while internally displaced persons camps caught fire four times in the first quarter of 2022.
The year started with a fire outbreak at the Obi Isiedo foodstuff market in Anambra State. It was the first day of the year and items worth several millions of naira were destroyed. It was a pathetic beginning of the year for several families that earned a living from the market.
Since then, more than 25 markets and business places were gutted by fire between January and March 2022.
Observers said several fire incidences happened across the country but were not captured by the media and called on the federal and state governments to find a way to reduce the menace which has claimed billions of naira in terms of monetary losses and in some cases lives.
Read More: https://dailytrust.com/how-fire-wreaked-700-shops-killed-19-in-3-months
