By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

Property worth about N8.5m have been destroyed in a fire that gutted a building of seven flats at Olorunshogo area, Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, in the early hours of Sunday.

A statement by the spokesman of the Kwara state Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, said the fire incident was as a result of power surge, adding that by the time the Firemen arrived the incident’s scene, “we realised that the whole building had been engulfed by the blazing fire due to the late call on the Fire Service by the victims and sympathisers.”

Notwithstanding the level of destruction by the fire incident, the statement added that the firemen were still able to salvage property worth about N4.7m.

The statement stated that although the conflagration was huge, the firemen were able to demonstrate high level of professionalism in putting the ravaging inferno under control in record time.

“The leading officer of the firemen who attended to the incident revealed that even though the fire was caused as a result of power surge, it was probably escalated by an iron that was met plugged into a socket in one of the rooms in the building,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Director of the State Fire Service, Prince Falade John Olumuyiwa, has implored the people to always switch off their electrical appliances before going to bed at night and while going out, saying this would help in drastically reducing incidences of fire in their homes, shops and working places.

End