A fire outbreak on Tuesday destroyed a petrol station, a fuel tanker and other property in the Ofiki area of Saki, Oyo State.
The incident completely razed the RSK Adebowale Multipurpose Filling Station, a petrol tanker, a motorcycle and fuel pumps, causing panic in the community.
Confirming the incident on Wednesday in Ibadan, the Chairman of the Oyo State Fire Services Agency, Mr Moroof Akinwande, said the agency received a distress call from the Saki Branch Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Mufutau Badmus.
Akinwande said, “The agency received a distress call through a telephone call from Alhaji Mufutau Badmus about a fire outbreak at a filling station in Ofiki, Saki.”
He explained that firemen, led by Mr Kolade Taiwo, were immediately deployed to the scene after the alert.
“On arrival, it was discovered that the filling station, a DAF tanker truck loaded with 50,000 litres of petrol, one Bajaj motorcycle and three fuel dispensing pumps were already engulfed in the inferno,” Akinwande said.
He added that officers of the agency acted swiftly to contain the fire and stop it from spreading to nearby buildings and property.
“The fire was completely extinguished, and it was prevented from spreading to other properties within the area,” he stated.
Akinwande also commended officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, from the Ofiki Division for providing security and maintaining order during the operation.
He advised owners of filling stations across the state to strictly follow fire safety rules to prevent similar incidents.
The fire outbreak came days after another incident in Oyo State. On January 9, property worth millions of naira was destroyed when a fire engulfed three vehicles and a community power house at a filling station in the Kara area of Kishi, Irepo Local Government Area.
An eyewitness said the Kishi incident occurred around 5 p.m. after an explosion at the power house, which ignited nearby flammable materials and spread to surrounding property.
