No less than 350 drums of petrol and diesel were destroyed by fire on Wednesday evening according to Adamawa Fire Service. The incident was attributed to a fire explosion at a fuel storage facility in the state capital, Yola.
Adamawa State’s Director of Fire Service, Adamu Abdullahi, made the disclosure during a press interview on Thursday afternoon, confirming that a truck which was offloading some of the drums was destroyed beyond recognition by the fire.
Confirming that the destroyed fuel station was illegally operated by a black marketer named Ibrahim Mai Engine Oil, Adamu disclosed that the fire had resulted from friction among the loaded drums and might have escalated to the neighbourhood if firefighters had not responded swiftly.
“It was a terrible thing when we responded to a distress call last night. I had to not only mobilise my people but also to reach out to sister stations, including FARO Industry and the Federal Fire Service,” Adamu said.
He added: “We discovered on reaching there that a large number of drums overfilled with petrol and diesel had caught fire due to friction of the loaded drums piled over one another.
“So, what happened was a fire explosion from the loaded drums that engulfed the place. We had to save not only the compound but also the larger surroundings and neighbourhood with legally operating petrol and LPG (gas) filling stations.”
He said there has been a further visit to the scene to ascertain the extent of damages.
“We went back this morning for more assessment, and we noted that apart from 200 drums of petrol and 150 drums of diesel that were destroyed, a truck loading from the place was burnt beyond recognition,” he said.
According to him, the precautionary work his men did on the crowd prevented human casualty, noting that they had an initial challenge in getting to the scene because of traffic and motorists’ failure to heed and respond to warning sirens.
