The Rivers head of service, Inyingi Brown, has confirmed that there were no casualties during a fire incident at the state secretariat complex.

Ms Brown disclosed this to journalists at the scene of the fire incident on Monday in Port Harcourt. She said that the state fire service and other relevant agencies responded promptly to contain the fire.

Ms Brown commended the timely response of the state fire service, Renaissance, federal fire service, and the military, who all sent their fire trucks to the scene.

“We thank God Almighty, and also commend Gov. Siminalayi Fubara, for being proactive in rehabilitating the fire service before this time. ’If not for his investment in the fire service, this situation would have been worse,” she stressed.

She disclosed that no lives were lost, explaining that the state medical service was on the ground to handle any emergencies.

Ms Brown explained that preliminary reports suggested the fire might have been caused by electrical faults and urged civil servants to always switch off all electrical appliances at the end of the workday.

“We urge all civil servants to take responsibility for safety; put off our sockets and our lights. Not just putting off the sockets, but unplugging them to ensure there is no residual charge because these buildings are heritage buildings and we don’t want anything to happen to them,” she said.

Ms Brown further assured that Fubara was working on measures to refurbish the secretariat buildings, which would be made known soon.

(NAN)