A timely intervention by the Abia State Fire Service has helped to contain a horrendous petrol tanker fire at the Federal High Court at Ogwurube Layout, Umuahia on Tuesday night.
It was learnt that the fire started during an attempt by some men to transload petroleum product from an impounded tanker into another one within the court premises.
The Zone 9 Police Public Relations Officer, SP Kingsley Iredibia, confirmed the incident and expressed joy that there was no casualty.
Iredibia said that one of the people involved in the transloading of the product was arrested for questioning.
He said that police and firefighters had a hectic time trying to ensure the fire did not engulf the court complex or spread to Zone 9 headquarters.
Also, the Acting Director of the state fire service, Mr. Arua Nnanna said that the timely intervention of his men made it possible to prevent the fire from escalating.
Nnanna said that the fire broke out at about 6:30 pm, when they received a distress call, and was finally put out around 1:30 am on Wednesday.
He said: “We received a distress call that there was an explosion, leading to fire and by the time we arrived at the scene, the fire had engulfed the area.
“We deployed the method called smothering, which has to do with quenching the fire by removing oxygen through confining the fire.
“We also tried our best to remove about four other trucks that were parked on the premises.
The state fire service chief blamed the incident on the hiring of unprofessional persons to carry out the transloading of the product.
He said, “It was wrong for them to have done so because there was no fire extinguisher or fire service men at hand.”
He commended the Chief of Staff, Commissioner of Police, Assistant Inspection General of Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security agencies, for rallying support to fight the fire.
Nnanna advised residents to always put measures in place to prevent fire by switching off their electrical appliances when leaving home or office and to install fire extinguishers in their homes and offices.
He also cautioned against bush burning, saying that fire incidents were usually more prevalent during the harmattan.