No less than 17 local businesses were destroyed by a fire event at the Timber Market, Umuokpu, Awka, Anambra State, on Tuesday.
Even though there were no casualties, it was reported that the fire began at around 10:16 pm and continued to burn till the state firefighters arrived on the scene.
The source of the fire could not be determined, but according to witnesses and victims, the blaze destroyed products worth millions of naira.
Martin Agbili, the state fire department chief, confirmed the occurrence and claimed his staff contained the fire and stopped it from spreading.
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He said, “At about 10.16 pm on Tuesday, the Anambra State Fire Service, received a distress call of a heavy fire outbreak at Timber Market, Umuokpu Awka.
“Immediately, we deployed our fire truck and brave firefighters to the fire scene. The heavy fire was later fought to a standstill.
“The cause of the fire is unknown and no life was lost. About 17 shops were badly affected but we were able to control the fire from spreading to many other shops.
“Time of withdrawal from the fire scene was 01.06 am. We are still at the peak of harmattan, please avoid anything which can cause a fire outbreak. Always remember that time of the fire call, will determine the time of response to the fire incident.”
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