Millions Lost as Fire Guts Furniture Workshop, Residential Buildings in Warri

A devastating fire on Friday afternoon destroyed a Furniture building, and a residential building at 31 Emebiren Street, Okumagba Avenue Layout, Warri, Delta State, leaving a landlord and several tenants homeless after flames spread from a nearby furniture workshop.

The incident occurred at about 3:00 p.m. on Emebiren Street, Okumagba Layout, Warri.

Eyewitnesses said the fire reportedly started inside a furniture workshop, where a child was allegedly playing with a lighter close to a power generator. The lighter was said to have ignited flammable materials, triggering an explosion that quickly engulfed the workshop.

Furniture Building Burned down

The inferno also destroyed a commercial tricycle parked in front of the workshop before spreading to an adjoining residential building.

Despite frantic efforts by residents and tenants to salvage their belongings, the raging fire overwhelmed the building, consuming properties worth millions of naira.

Residents immediately alerted the Delta State Fire Service, whose personnel responded to the emergency and eventually brought the blaze under control, preventing it from spreading to other nearby structures.

An eyewitness, who identified herself simply as Grace, said the fire escalated within moments of the explosion.

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“A child was playing with a lighter near the generator. Immediately it ignited, there was an explosion and the fire spread rapidly. Within a short time, the whole place was engulfed,” she said.

Another resident, Onome Efe, said she rushed to the scene after noticing thick smoke billowing into the sky.

“I was at a nearby market when I saw heavy smoke. I immediately came to the scene and discovered there were not enough buckets to fetch water, so I rushed to get more buckets and joined others in trying to contain the fire before the firefighters arrived,” she said.

Nearby Building Burned

Speaking to journalists, an official of the Delta State Fire Service, Churchill Cyprian, said the agency responded promptly after receiving a distress call.

According to him, firefighters immediately created a firebreak to stop the flames from spreading to surrounding buildings.

Cyprian disclosed that the Fire Service notified officers at the “B” Division Police Station before arriving at the scene, adding that the police swiftly deployed personnel to provide security and crowd control during the operation.

Official vehicle Of the Fire Service

He urged members of the public to allow emergency responders to carry out their duties during fire outbreaks instead of obstructing rescue operations.

No casualty was recorded as of the time of filing this report, while the exact cause of the fire is yet to be officially confirmed by the relevant authorities.

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