Kerosene explosion razes building in Bayelsa

A residential building was razed by fire in the early hours of Saturday on Arietalin Street, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

The cause of the inferno could not be immediately ascertained but sources alleged kerosene explosion triggered the fire.

A resident in the area, who gave his name only as Peretu, said a kerosene stove exploded and ignited the fire.

Peretu said, “We just saw fire coming from the kitchen of one of the houses. Maybe one of the people living in the house abandoned his cooking and went out.

“Before we knew what was happening, the fire was all over the place and we decided to call the state fire fighters. Household items and documents were burnt. We couldn’t get a thing from the house.|”

Another victim, whose apartment was gutted by the fire, said she was not aware of the cause of the fire.

The victim who identified himself as Frankie said,”I actually don’t know the cause of the fire because I just got back from night duty.

“I was busy writing something when all of a sudden, my wife called me that there was fire at my next door neighbour’s apartment. When I ran out, there was smoke inside the room and there was nobody there.

“The fire gutted my apartment and burnt all my documents; school certificates, my clothes. I didn’t recover anything from the fire.”

Fire fighters from the Bayelsa State Fire Service intervened to stop the fire from spreading to other buildings in the congested neighbourhood.

The fire fighters successfully brought the fire under control but after it had razed the building.

One of the fire fighters, High Superintendent Jonathan said the cause of the fire had not been ascertained.

“We were able to extinguish the fire with the help of the people around because of lack of personnel we have,” Jonathan said.