Just In: Fire Outbreak Razes Ebute Metta Plank Market

Okobaba plank market at Ebute Metta in Lagos, is on fire. The fire is wild and spreading fast among the thatched houses, POLITICS NIGERIA reports.

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The actual cause of the fire is still unknown, but firefighters are already on ground.

This newspaper cannot also get ascertain if there is any casualty.

Media reports indicate that between 2019 and 2021, Nigeria experienced severe fire incidents, leading to 79 deaths out of 68 fires recorded in 18 months. Thirty-one of these were market fires and the losses are still being counted.

During the present dry season, fire outbreaks constitute one of the calamities common at this period of the year. This is as a result of the harmattan, which is associated with dryness and wind; the harmattan haze with extremely dry dusty wind blows from the Sahara toward the western coast of Africa.

This mostly happens from November throughout March where quite a lot of fire outbreaks are recorded since there is dry wind, which makes it easy for the fire to spread at the slightest ignition.