Coscharis warehouse, at Mazamaza, Lagos burnt

Fire fighters at Coscharis group company at Kirikiri Industrial estate Mazamaza,

LAGOS — An early morning inferno, Thursday, razed a warehouse belonging to Coscharis Group located at the Kirikiri Industrial, Mazamaza,  Area of Lagos State, destroying property worth billions of naira.

The warehouse was used for storing computer equipment, Abro Petrochemical products, vehicles and inverter batteries, auto spare parts, motorcycles and tires.

Eyewitnesses told Vanguard that the fire which started around 4a.m. when electricity supply was restored to the area by the Power Holding Company, PHCN, lasted for hours.

A staff of the company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, lamented that the fire would have been curtailed if there were enough fire extinguishers in the warehouse at the time the fire started.

According to him, “the fire started from an office inside the warehouse around 4a.m. and that office was locked at the time.

“We tried putting off the fire with few fire extinguishers we could lay our hands on but they were not enough.

“There was no fire hydrant or fire engine in the warehouse that would have enabled us prevent the fire from spreading to other parts.

Before we knew what was happening, the whole place was on flame aided by the petrochemical products and other inflammable items stored in the warehouse. It was even The Sun Newspaper our neighbor that rushed to our aid with their fire fighting truck.”

However, the company’s Financial Controller, Godwin Umaka, who could not give the  value of the property destroyed,  said the company did all he could to prevent the fire from escalating.