Combined team of firefighters from the federal and Kwara fire services on Sunday battled a major fire outbreak involving a storey building comprising three-bedroom flats and 10 shops.

Blueprint.ng correspondent gathered that the incident occurred at about 1:36pm at Ita-Amodu, Niger Junction, Ilorin, Ilorin West local government area of the state capital.

The spokesman of the State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle,
who confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday, said the state fire services had deployed two fire appliances to the scene of the incident following the magnitude of the fire.

The spokesperson said the cause of the fire was still under investigation, and further findings will be communicated when the investigation is concluded.

“Among the commodities involved were mattresses and highly combustible sofa materials, due to the materials used in their production, thereby contributing to the intensity and rapid spread of the fire.

“On arrival, the first fire appliance met the fire already fully developed and overwhelming the building. Due to the magnitude of the inferno, a second fire appliance was immediately deployed to reinforce the firefighting operation”, he said

Adekunle praised the courage, professionalism and determination demonstrated by the firefighters whicj he said preventec the fire from spreading to adjoining properties.

“Their concerted efforts successfully brought the fire under control at about 14:05hrs,” he added.

He said the collaboration between both the federal and state fire services contributed significantly to mitigating the impact of the inferno and prevented further escalation.

Chief Fire Officer of the State Fire Service, Alabi Muhammed, commended the men and officers of both fire agencies for their bravery, resilience and excellent teamwork in containing the ravaging inferno.

He urged owners and operators of businesses dealing in highly combustible materials such as mattresses, upholstery and related products to prioritise fire safety measures, maintain adequate spacing between combustible materials, and provide appropriate fire extinguishing equipment within their premises.