A devastating fire outbreak has destroyed seven apartments in Zamfara State, including one belonging to a bride a day before her wedding and another owned by a personnel of the Zamfara State Fire Service.
Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred around 8:40 a.m. when residents of the affected community were startled by screams from women calling for help.
One of the witnesses, Malam Dan Sokoto, told reporters that the fire started in the apartment of the oldest woman in the compound, identified as Hajiya.
“When we went to evacuate the oldest woman in her apartment, where the fire started, we found the flame rising, and when we poured water on it to quench the fire, the flame kept rising, as if we added petroleum to it,”; he narrated.
According to him, the elderly woman claimed the fire began from the ceiling of her room, triggered by an unknown cause.
“It is in the ceiling,”; she reportedly said. “Though I cannot actually identify the cause of the fire, I heard a sound indicating that something exploded in the ceiling of my room.”;
Residents said firefighters were promptly alerted and arrived early, but the response was hampered by mechanical issues in their equipment.
“The firefighters came on time, but due to technical faults in the fire trucks, they could not start putting out the fire immediately. For over an hour, they battled to fix the trucks,”; said Sokoto.
“ironically, one of the destroyed homes belonged to a fire service officer.”;
The tragedy struck hardest for the bride, who had just moved her belongings into her apartment in preparation for her wedding the following day.
Upon arrival at the scene with her elder brother, both broke down in tears.
“It was just yesterday we brought all her properties and arranged everything ready for their marriage life to begin tomorrow, but they were completely destroyed by the fire,”; the brother lamented.
Confirming the incident, Executive Secretary of the Zamfara State Fire Service, Bello Sani, acknowledged the destruction and defended the response time of his team.
