An early morning fire on Sunday razed parts of a residential building on Tewo-Gbore Street, Ogele Ori-Sunbare in the Eyenkorin area of Asa Local Government Area, Kwara State.
The Telegraph gathered that the incident, which occurred around 12:38 a.m., affected a building housing a room-and-parlour self-contained apartment alongside a two-bedroom flat.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, said firefighters responded promptly after receiving a distress call from the area.
According to him, the swift intervention of fire personnel prevented the blaze from spreading to nearby buildings and minimised the extent of damage recorded during the incident.
“Firefighters swiftly mobilised to the scene and, through their timely and coordinated efforts, successfully contained the fire and saved an adjoining building from being affected,” he said.
Adekunle disclosed that preliminary investigations traced the cause of the fire to improperly extinguished charcoal stored close to the residential building.
“Findings indicated that sacks of charcoal had just been unloaded, and part of the charcoal was not completely extinguished.
“Upon exposure to air, the residual heat reignited and intensified the situation, causing the fire to spread to the building,” he stated.
Reacting to the incident, the Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Alabi Muhammed, cautioned charcoal dealers, transporters and residents against the careless handling and storage of combustible materials capable of retaining heat.
He stressed the importance of keeping flammable materials away from residential buildings and urged residents to remain vigilant and promptly report fire outbreaks to emergency responders.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to protecting lives and property through proactive emergency response and continuous public safety awareness campaigns across the state.
The latest incident comes barely two weeks after another major fire outbreak destroyed at least 24 shops at the popular Mandate Ultra-Modern Market in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, in the early hours of May 12.
