Property worth millions of naira were destroyed as fire gutted a petrol station in the Central Area of Lafia, Nasarawa, in the late hours of Thursday.
According to the eyewitness, the fire, which started at about 23. 30, lasted for more than an hour.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the scene of the fire housed three petrol stations, plazas and several other businesses.
It took the frantic intervention of firefighters to prevent the fire from escalating to other petrol stations.
Confirming the incident, Commandant of the Nasarawa State Fire Service, Dalhatu Dogara said the fire erupted while a petrol tanker was discharging fuel to the underground tank of one of the stations.
Dogara said that no life was lost.
He advised that petrol station owners should always take precautionary measures while discharging fuel from their tankers.
“Petrol owners should always take caution not to discharge fuel immediately after travelling for long-distance.
“They should, at least, allow the tanker stay up to one hour before discharging the content,’’ he said.
The commandant commending his men for fighting gallantly to put out the fire and preventing it from escalating to other stations.
He urged the state government to equip the command with more logistics and manpower to ease the fire service operations. (NAN)
