20 vehicles, bags of rice destroyed as fire razes Ikeja Customs warehouse

By Nwankwo onyinye

No fewer than 20 vehicles and scores of bags of rice were Thursday destroyed when fire gutted Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A warehouse in Ikeja, Lagos State.
Fire at Ikeja Customs warehouse
The 20 vehicles destroyed by the inferno which vanguard gathered started at about 3 pm were six trailers, 12 vehicles and two mini-buses.
It was learned that the foreign parboiled rice, which worth millions of Naira, were loaded in the trucks before it was gutted by the inferno that also razed substantial part of the warehouse.
A Custom officer, who does not want his name in print, disclosed that the fire started due to bush burning activity within the axis where the vehicles are parked.
When Vanguard visited the scene of the inferno, officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, Emergency management Agency, LASEMA Response Team Fire Unit and other emergency officers were sighted at the scene putting out the fire.
In an interview with Vanguard, Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasak Fadipe, who confirmed the fire disaster, disclosed that his men responded swiftly to the emergency call.
He said: “The warehouse was filled with over 300 vehicles of different brands. And with our efforts, we were able to save about 99 percent of the property at the scene.”
Also, Deputy Head, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaki Musibau, hinted that the fire disaster started from a burst cylinder which was stored under one of the burnt vehicles within the warehouse.
“From available information, the fire started from a burst cylinder stored under one of the vehicles and enhanced by the harmattan,” he added.