Fire razes property worth over N130m in Aba
A tank truck carrying 33,000 liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) caught fire at a gas station in Aba, Abia State on Thursday, destroying property worth over $130 million naira.
The petrol station has been identified as Chab petrol station, opposite Star Paper Mill, Umuatako, Aba, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
A Chab worker, who requested anonymity, said the fire started around noon and lasted until about 2 p.m. before firefighters from the Abia State Fire Department pushed him away.
Firefighters came from Aba and Umuahia stations.
Abia State Fire Department Fire Chief Arua Nnanna described the incident as preventable.
He said the department warned gas station owners to always unload their products when the intensity of the sun's heat is not high.
"I received a distress call in Umuahia that there was a tanker fire in Aba, so I had to send two trucks from our Aba station in Constitution Crescent.
"And when I received the second call, it was for Aba's help due to the intensity of the fire.
"So I pushed the trucks to Umuahia all the way to Aba to make sure everything was under control.
"As I speak to you, four trucks are working there, two from Aba and two from Umuahia," he said at the time.
Mr. Nnanna said it was suspected the fire was caused by the service station not heeding earlier warnings to stop unloading fuel at the height of the sun's heat. p>
He suggested that while the tanker was unloading the PMS, the weather was hot and the station did not have safety equipment on hand.
Mr. Nnanna thanked residents and other security agencies for their cooperation which helped firefighters extinguish the blaze.
He also praised the efforts of his men and described the firefight as one of the fiercest his men had been in recently.
Appeal to governmentCommander of Abia State Fire Department, Aba Command, Belenta Belenta, said the intensity of the fire was beyond Aba Command's capacity, hence Umuahia's request for assistance .
"We got the information and immediately rushed with my men. The tanker was unloading and from this discharge a fire ensued. The tanker was loaded with 33,000 liters of PMS.
> READ ALSO: Fire destroys Ose chemical market in Onitsha"We fought the fire with help from our main station in Umuahia. And we may have doused it with the type of chemical we had.
"We call on the government to come to the fire department to see what we really need to ensure we continue to serve better.
"If we didn't have men capable of handling violent fires, we wouldn't have been able to do much because we don't have enough equipment for this type of fire," said Mr. .Belenta.
NAN reports that office equipment and products at Umungasi post office business centers were destroyed by the fire.
Governor Okezie...
A tank truck carrying 33,000 liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) caught fire at a gas station in Aba, Abia State on Thursday, destroying property worth over $130 million naira.
The petrol station has been identified as Chab petrol station, opposite Star Paper Mill, Umuatako, Aba, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
A Chab worker, who requested anonymity, said the fire started around noon and lasted until about 2 p.m. before firefighters from the Abia State Fire Department pushed him away.
Firefighters came from Aba and Umuahia stations.
Abia State Fire Department Fire Chief Arua Nnanna described the incident as preventable.
He said the department warned gas station owners to always unload their products when the intensity of the sun's heat is not high.
"I received a distress call in Umuahia that there was a tanker fire in Aba, so I had to send two trucks from our Aba station in Constitution Crescent.
"And when I received the second call, it was for Aba's help due to the intensity of the fire.
"So I pushed the trucks to Umuahia all the way to Aba to make sure everything was under control.
"As I speak to you, four trucks are working there, two from Aba and two from Umuahia," he said at the time.
Mr. Nnanna said it was suspected the fire was caused by the service station not heeding earlier warnings to stop unloading fuel at the height of the sun's heat. p>
He suggested that while the tanker was unloading the PMS, the weather was hot and the station did not have safety equipment on hand.
Mr. Nnanna thanked residents and other security agencies for their cooperation which helped firefighters extinguish the blaze.
He also praised the efforts of his men and described the firefight as one of the fiercest his men had been in recently.
Appeal to governmentCommander of Abia State Fire Department, Aba Command, Belenta Belenta, said the intensity of the fire was beyond Aba Command's capacity, hence Umuahia's request for assistance .
"We got the information and immediately rushed with my men. The tanker was unloading and from this discharge a fire ensued. The tanker was loaded with 33,000 liters of PMS.
> READ ALSO: Fire destroys Ose chemical market in Onitsha"We fought the fire with help from our main station in Umuahia. And we may have doused it with the type of chemical we had.
"We call on the government to come to the fire department to see what we really need to ensure we continue to serve better.
"If we didn't have men capable of handling violent fires, we wouldn't have been able to do much because we don't have enough equipment for this type of fire," said Mr. .Belenta.
NAN reports that office equipment and products at Umungasi post office business centers were destroyed by the fire.
Governor Okezie...
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