Uche Amunike
It was a memorable Wednesday for commuters, fuel attendants and business owners, after the Mobil filling station, Ikeja went up in flames, leaving 11 people injured and nine vehicles razed by the inferno.
The fire destroyed, a gas tanker, two commercial mini-buses, a Toyota Hiace bus, a Honda Accord, a Sienna car, a Gulf car, a Citroen car and a Toyota Corolla.
Also affected, was an adjoining two-storey building, the mobile mart building, a vulcanizer pumping machine and two other pumping machines.
According to the Director of Operations of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), Olatunde Akinsanya, the reports of the incident was received by them at about 10am and immediately, the agency deployed all machines on ground and tactically put out the fire, thereby preventing further spread to the Airport Hotel which was situated within the radius of the mobile Filling Station, Ikeja.
His words: ‘We got calls about a gas explosion at the Mobil Filling Station and LASEMA alongside the Lagos State Rescue and Fire Rescue Service (LSFRS) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) deployed machinery and engaged the fire in a tactical manner. We were able to subdue the fire and prevent it from spreading to the Airport Hotel and others. We put out the fire within 45 minutes.’
‘We rescued 11 victims and one of them suffered about 90% of burns and was taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and will be for the transferred to the Gbagada Burnt Unit.’
While reacting to the cause of the fire outbreak, efforts and capacity of the mobile filling station to respond to Fire outbreaks, he stated: ‘The incident happened at the time. The filling station was dispensing oil and gas at the same time. The level of emergency preparedness at the station is low. However, the skill of the gas exclusion is high. 10 tons of customs are involved, so it’s a good job done by the emergency agencies involved.’
He continued: ‘It should be noted that the government of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has put in place, all infrastructure to manage emergencies at different levels.’
He advised owners of filling stations to reduce safety risks around petrol stations when there is a need to offload or load gas. He further stated that the management of filling stations should stop selling fuel whenever there is a need to discharge gas.
In the meantime, LASEMA asked people living within the area of the affected building to move out until after an integrity test had been concluded.
According to investigations by the agency, one of the Mobile Filling Station officers revealed that the damage occurred to the 8-ton LPG gas cylinder while gas was being dispensed to customers which led to the gas escaping rapidly before bursting into flames.
The agencies involved in further response and investigations include the LASEMA Response Team LRT, the NSFRS, NEMA, Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC), Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS), as well as the Police.
In their reaction to the incident, the 11PLC, formerly known as Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, released a statement to newsmen, announcing closure of the station until further notice. They stated that they were cooperating fully with relevant government agencies to carry out a thorough investigation that will reveal the cause of the fire. The statement also noted that they were assessing the extent of damage while implementing the right measures to avoid similar incidents in future, with confirmation that the injured individuals have been taken to the hospital.
On their part, then NNPC stated that the fire was not caused by the compressed natural gas station, which was recently unveiled by the NNPC Gas Marketing Ltd and NIPCO, as they are currently functioning and running safely without any incidents.
They also stated that the CNG station was not affected by the inferno
