An Enyo filling station located in Wuse Zone 1 area of Abuja went up in flames on Friday night. Multimillion-naira properties were razed down.

The fire outbreak started about 7:00 p.m. when a petrol laden tanker within the station premises caught fire. The fire which lasted for about two and a half hours razed down the filling station. 

Reports say no life was lost, while virtually all vehicles queuing for fuel were safely evacuated except few ones affected by the heat of the fire.

Abbas Idriss, the FCT Emergency Management Agency boss, condemned the attack on the fire service men and vehicles that responded to the emergency.

Mr Idriss said that the impact of the fire would have been minimised if hoodlums had not prevented the fire service men from accessing the filling station.

While expressing worry over the unfortunate incident, he wondered why individuals would want to destroy fire trucks procured for the purpose of extinguishing fire and  the safety of lives and property.

A witness, who identified himself as Ishakku, had earlier said that a crowd began to gather upon explosion from the tanker, with smoke billowing out from the burning station.

He said that the fire had burnt for almost an hour before the fire service operatives came and the crowd mixed with hoodlums had become impatient.

He said that the hoodlums, on sighting the fire service vehicles, began to throw stones, sticks and other materials at them.

According to him, the first two fire vehicles that arrived at the scene early could not wait because they were attacked.

“The officers with their vehicles had to run for safety, which made the fire to cause more damage at the filling station.

“Had it been the fire service trucks were not attacked and the men were allowed when they came, the damage would have been minimal,” the witness said.

He said it took the combined intervention of military officers, police, DSS and other security personnel in FCT to disperse the crowd before the fire service men could gain access to the filling station.

The FEMA director-general, who was at the scene of the incident to assess the impact, described the act as barbaric, adding that it was a serious offence punishable under the law.

“The fire service came to extinguish the fire and they were being attacked they can’t stay and you can see the damage caused

“Hoodlums are attacking them (fire service men). It is a very serious offence that must be addressed, and such acts must be discouraged across the country.

Mr Idriss stressed the need for the public to be enlightened on why they should not prevent or attack fire service men or vehicles who came for operations.

The director-general also sought the support of the media in sensitising the public on the operation of fire service men and emergency management officials.

“It is very unfortunate generally we have been having filling stations fire in the FCT, but we have been doing everything to nip it in the bud,” he said.

(NAN)