How Fire Service Officials Trained House Of David Church Workers Before Fire Outbreak

…’Painfully, we watched till everything got burnt completely’ – Cleric

Details have emerged how fire service officials had trained workers of House of David Church, Surulere Industrial Road, off Adeniyi Jones,Ikeja, Lagos to prepare for any eventualities but couldn’t notice the fire outbreak which eventually engulfed the building hours to start its Annual 5-day crusade.

Multiple sources who recounted the fire incident, said that it was unfortunate that they couldn’t notice the fire which occurred at about 11 am after a major training in case of any eventualities.

One worker in the popular church said they had advertised the 5-day programme, sharing flyers, and they were expecting thousands of people in the church Wednesday evening, when the fire incident occurred at about 11 am.

According to the witness; “We have been making arrangements, even went as far as decorating the place and training some of our members on how to confront emergency situations, such as fire outbreak. Guess who trained our people? Fire service,” the witness said.

Speaking on the incident, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, South West Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said, “the fire which started at about 11am at the rear end of the church was not noticed by the church workers, but passersby who drew the attention of the indoor workers to the incident.

“No one sustained injury and no casualty recorded.The church had organised a 5-day crusade starting from this evening by 5pm and ends on the 4th of February, 2024.

“The premises was said to have been leased and insured as hired by the Church.It was found out that due to the expected turn out of congregants for the crusade, the Church workers had been trained by Fire Service to prepare for any eventualities.”

The Senior Pastor of the House of David Church, Olusola Osunmakinde, when eacting to the sudden incident, however encouraged his congregation and the general public not to lose hope in God.

He assured the church congregation that regardless of the incident, the programme set for Wednesday, January 31, will still hold at the same venue.

“Some people saw the whole thing from the beginning and by the grace of God, We’ll have a greater recovery,” he stated.

Osunmakinde said the fire service was called upon but “painfully, we watched till everything got burnt completely. Everything”.

“Nobody anticipated this. The most important thing is that no life was lost,” he said in a video with a background of burnt carcasses of what is now left of the fancy auditorium with colourful lightings and thousands of steel chairs.

“It’s a painful experience, no doubt but all things work together for good,” he said consolingly albeit with a trembling voice.

The Mercy Conference was slated to hold from January 31, 2024 through February 4, 2024 with many Pentecostal preachers like Joshua Selman, Isaac Oyedepo, Godman Akinlabi, and Yemi Davids billed to minister during the meeting.

Also, famous minstrels like Nathaniel Bassey, Dunsin Oyekan, Victoria Orenze and Moses Bliss are also supposed to minister at the conference.

Unfazed, Osunmakinde said “we believe God and we are still going to go ahead with the conference”.

As of press time, the agencies on ground at the scene are :NEMA, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Lagos Emergency Management Agency, State Fire Service and the Police.

(Curated from Sun and Channel TV Report)