By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

Property worth over N38m has been lost to an inferno that gutted a paint shop located around Balogun Afin, at Ita-Kure area of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Saturday.

The inferno also razed two residents buildings and five other shops beside the paint shop, destroying the property inside completely.

A statement by the spokesman of the Kwara state Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, said: “A paint shop suddenly caught fire and destroyed two residential buildings built beside it: a storey building, and the other one was a bungalow.

“Aside from the two residential buildings destroyed by the ravaging fire, five other shops in the vicinity were also affected. Firemen were able to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to the adjacent buildings.”

The fire, according to the leader of the firemen, was as a result of the chemical nature of the burning materials, blaming its escalation to late calling of the Fire Service by sympathisers.

Meanwhile, the Director of Kwara State Fire Service, Prince Falade John Olumuyiwa, has urged the people of the state to always cultivate the habit of switching off their electrical appliances while leaving home and even before bedtime, adding that this would help in curbing fire outbreaks in the state.