Following the fire outbreak at a petrol station along Nike Lake road
by Penoks Junction, Trans Ekulu, Enugu, on Monday, residents of the
area have commended the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi
for the swift intervention and expertise displayed by officers and men
of Enugu State Fire Service in putting out the fire, without any loss
of life.
The inferno according to eye witnesses was caused by a truck
discharging liquefied gas at the filling station, which lost control
and hit the dispensing nozzle and ignited the fire.
The State Fire Service upon receiving a distress call rushed to the
scene and put out the fire which affected just the petrol station, a
commercial bus, a transformer, three shops and a residential building,
shortly before Gov. Ugwuanyi, his deputy, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, the
Speaker of the State Assembly, Rt. Hon. Edward Ubosi and the State
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Danmallam Mohammed arrived the venue.
Reacting to the development, excited residents of the area, who
cheered the governor for his presence and show of concern, expressed
delight at the commitment, bravery and professionalism exhibited by
the men and officers of the State Fire Service, stressing that this is
the first time an inferno of such magnitude occurred without any loss
of life.
They applauded Gov. Ugwuanyi for repositioning the State Fire Service
by providing it with sophisticated equipment, experienced personnel
and other necessary logistics to discharge their duties efficiently.
Mr. Vincent Okonkwo, a near-by shop owner said: “Gburugburu (Ugwuanyi)
has surprised us today. If you were here when this fire started, you
will not believe that these fire men would quench it. We thought that
was the end of everything we have, our shops, houses, vehicles and
even the lives of people around here.
“In short, I saw hell today. But the way the fire service people
worked to stop this fire. We say thank you to God and our governor and
those that quenched it”.
Another resident, Mrs. Priscilla Udeh said: “We are very grateful to
God for saving us from this danger. We equally thank our governor,
Gburugburu, for sending these people on time to come and stop this
dangerous fire. God is truly with us in this state.
“The governor has shown us that we are protected in this state because
what happened here now is very serious and dangerous. But as you can
see, nobody died. It is just these shops and that filling station. We
sincerely thank God, we thank our governor too. May God bless him and
grant him his heart’s desire”.
Arriving the scene, Gov. Ugwuanyi, who expressed profound gratitude to
God that no life was lost, commended the State Fire Service for the
efficient and quick intervention, and equally thanked the people in
the neighborhood for their cooperation.
The governor maintained that Enugu State is safe, stressing that with
the report that no life was lost, “I am now convinced more than ever
before that Enugu State is truly in the hands of God”.
He sympathized with the victims and promised to take immediate action
to ameliorate the pains and replace the burnt transformer for the
people of the area to continue to enjoy power supply. The governor
therefore, directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to
commence action in that regard.
Earlier, the State Fire Officer, Mr. Okwudili Oha, disclosed that the
fire outbreak was massive, pointing out that it would have done
serious damage if not for the quick intervention of the State Fire
Service.
The Fire Officer thanked the residents for their support and
cooperation and particularly the governor for equipping and
repositioning the establishment, which he said made the work easy for
them.
He therefore, appealed to the public to take precautionary measures
and be vigilant to avert further fire outbreak in the state,
especially in this period of Harmattan.
