Properties worth millions of naira were destroyed in Monday night’s inferno that gutted a storey building located on IBB Way in Calabar.

The fire, which started between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., was still smouldering in some of the apartments of the building at the time of this report.

An eyewitness, Emmanuel Odok, who lives in the next building to the affected one, said that the fire was triggered by sparks from the electrical wire beside the building.

“We noticed continuous sparks from the wire in front of our building, so some boys quickly used sticks to disconnect the wire and thought the whole thing had ended.

“They didn’t know that the wire beside the next building was also sparking and fell on the outer part of the building that had two shops.

“The situation got worse as the fire came in contact with the generators in both shops that were locked since the owners had closed for the day, and there was an explosion that increased the fire,” he said.

According to him, efforts to reach three sets of fire services were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, an occupant of one of the razed apartments said she was heartbroken and in no mood to speak, adding that she did not know how to start again.

When contacted, Dennis Ajom, director of the State Fire Service, acknowledged receiving a distress call concerning the incident but added that he was handicapped as the state presently had no fire truck.

Mr Ajom said he, however, made an effort to seek assistance from sister fire services in the state.

“I, however, called the Federal Fire Service, which said they also have no truck, while the personnel on the ground at the Airport Fire Service said they needed authorisation from a higher authority to act,” he reported.

(NAN)