A tragic fire incident in Zamfara State has left a trail of destruction, consuming seven apartments in a residential compound, including the home of a bride-to-be and that of a fire service officer.
The blaze erupted around 8:40 a.m., throwing the community into chaos as shouts from distressed women echoed through the area, drawing residents into a frantic rescue effort.
One of the early responders, Malam Dan Sokoto, recounted how the fire originated from the apartment of the compound’s eldest resident, identified as Hajiya.
“When we went to evacuate the oldest woman in her apartment, where the fire started, we found the flame rising, and when we poured water on it to quench the fire, the flame kept rising, as if we added petroleum to it,” he told reporters.
According to Sokoto, Hajiya, though uncertain of the fire’s exact origin, claimed it appeared to have ignited from above.
“It is in the ceiling,” she reportedly said. “Though I cannot actually identify the cause of the fire, I heard a sound indicating that something exploded in the ceiling of my room.”
Despite swift contact with emergency responders, efforts to extinguish the fire were severely delayed due to malfunctioning equipment.
“The firefighters came on time, but due to technical faults in the fire trucks, they could not start putting out the fire immediately. For over an hour, they battled to fix the trucks,” Sokoto explained.
In a cruel twist of fate, one of the homes reduced to ashes belonged to a member of the state’s fire service.
The fire dealt a particularly crushing blow to a young bride, who had just set up her new home ahead of her wedding the next day. She arrived at the scene with her elder brother, both visibly shattered by the sight.
“It was just yesterday we brought all her properties and arranged everything ready for their marriage life to begin tomorrow, but they were completely destroyed by the fire,” the brother said, overwhelmed with grief.
The Executive Secretary of the Zamfara State Fire Service, Bello Sani, confirmed the incident and defended his team’s prompt response, citing unavoidable mechanical setbacks.