By Francesca Hangeior.
A night fire whose cause is yet to be ascertained has razed some sections of the Katako market in Jos, Plateau State, destroying property worth millions of Naira.
It was gathered that the incident happened before 11 pm on Sunday when residents had gone to bed, and despite efforts to contain the inferno, some goods, including planks, furniture, and others, were destroyed.
Lamenting the losses in a market that consistently records fire incidents, a trader, Abdulsalam Abdullahi said the cause of the inferno is not known yet but, “the fire has caused a major setback in a time like this,” and asked that all stakeholders should collaborate to end the incident which is fast becoming a yearly one.
However, the Director of the State Fire Service, Caleb Polit, commended the efforts of his men and citizens in containing the fire saying though the property had been lost, it is commendable that no life was lost as a result of the incident.
His words, “Our office at Masallachi Juma’a was called at exactly 10.49 pm. My men reached out to the rapid response at the Federal Fire Service while our fire trucks at the Government House and the Bukuru stations were also deployed to the scene.
“One truck from the Federal Fire Service did about four trips of water and our two trucks did three trips each before the fire was controlled. The furniture section and the timber sheds were the worst hit, and we suspect the fire started from there. We are still investigating to know the cause of the fire and other things.”