A seven-storey commercial building in the Iddo area of Lagos Island was engulfed by fire on Thursday, causing panic among occupants and business owners in the vicinity.
The Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, confirmed in a statement that the fire started around 10:00 AM and originated from the archival room of the building, which houses commercial banks and a bottling company, among other businesses.
She stated, “A fire outbreak that occurred on the first floor of a seven-storey commercial building belonging to AG Leventis, Iddo House, Iddo, via Oyingbo Lagos, has been doused by the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service.
“The building occupied by Nigeria Bottling Company PLC reported the fire at 10:22 AM on Thursday. The fire, which started in the archive room of about 108 square meters, was successfully confined to its point of origin and extinguished by the combined efforts of the Sari Iganmu and Ebute Elefun Fire Stations of the agency.”
Adeseye noted that preliminary investigations suggested that the fire was caused by rising room temperatures, leading to self-ignition within the archival space. However, she added that a detailed investigation was underway to determine the exact cause of the fire.
“Fortunately, there is no record of casualties in the incident, and the operation has since been completed,” she said.
Earlier this year, on January 3, a similar fire incident was reported in the Lekki area of Lagos, where a one-storey building was gutted. The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed that the fire started at about 1:00 PM, destroying properties worth an undisclosed amount.