The crate depot of the International Brewery, Ilesa, Osun State was on Friday evening gutted by fire.

The combined officers of the Osun and Federal Fire Service today are battled to put out the fire.

Ibrahim Adekunle, the spokesperson for the Osun Fire Service, told journalists on Saturday in Osogbo that the fire happened at the crate depot of the brewery and not the main plant.

Mr Adekunle said several empty crates, pallets, and bottles were destroyed in the fire incident, adding that his men were still battling to subdue the fire as flammable objects involved are aiding the inferno.

“The fire broke out around 6.00 p.m. on Friday and our men promptly responded to the distress call to subdue and prevent the fire from spreading to other places.

“Firefighters from the Osun State Fire Service and those of the Federal Fire Service were immediately deployed to the scene and they are still there.

“The place affected is a vast expanse of land the brewery uses as a depot for storing bottles and crates and no human life was affected.

“As of this morning (Saturday), we are still at the scene trying to completely subdue the fire and this is due to inflammable items at the crate depot.

“We have, however, been able to control and restrict the fire from spreading,” he said.

Mr Adekunle, who noted that a comprehensive investigation into the cause of the fire incident would be done later, said bush burning around the area might be the likely cause of the fire. 

(NAN)