An eyewitness reported that the fire began about 2:00 p.m. on January 4, 2023, during business hours. The witness stated that fire fighters who initially responded to the site were unable to do much since their truck ran out of diesel.
Mr. Nnanna Arua, Chief Fire Officer (CFO) of Abia State, confirmed the incident yesterday and stated that court property and valuables worth millions of naira were destroyed, but no lives were lost.
He emphasised that the situation was brought under control at 4:00 p.m., but that it erupted again around 11:00 p.m. until it was fully under control.
According to the CFO, the fire was caused by bush burning during the dry season, which accelerated the blaze towards the courthouse.
He confirmed that the fire truck arrived late due to a technical glitch and a lack of diesel, adding that after the glitch was resolved and the truck was refuelled, fire operatives moved to the scene, which is approximately 25 kilometres from Umuahia, the state capital, and completely extinguished the fire.
According to him, while billions of naira-worth of assets were rescued from fire accidents, millions of naira-worth of properties were lost. He asked households to refrain from burning brush and leaving appliances on when they are not in use.
From the first week of December to the end of December 2022, the state registered 65 and 41 fire occurrences in Umuahia and Aba, respectively, with two lives lost in Aba and one in Umuahia.
"It is evident that the state fire department lacks operational logistics, but the state administration is working to remedy the situation.
"Among other moves, the state governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, relocated the State Fire Office from the Ministry of Transport to his office in 2018 to address the state's terrible logistics situation," he continued.
(Source: guardian.ng)
