An early morning fire has razed a section of the
Christ Embassy Church, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos State,
destroying property said to be worth millions of
naira. The fire, which reportedly lasted for about two
hours on Wednesday, was said to have affected four
40-feet containers, reportedly being used as storage
facilities by the church.


The fire, which was said to have started at about
4am, was caused by a burning heap of refuse, which
later engulfed the containers near an uncompleted
building on the church premises.
It will be recalled that another fire incident occurred
in the church in March 2014, which razed generator
houses, damaging about 10 generators.


According to a resident, who claimed to be an
eyewitness, the Wednesday fire, which created panic
and later caused gridlock in the area, was put out by
firefighters from the Alausa Fire Station, who were
joined by some church workers.


He said, “The fire started from some refuse being
burnt near the containers. It soon engulfed the
containers and lasted for about two hours. It
attracted sympathisers and passersby to the area.
The thick smoke also caused some traffic snarl along
Billings Way, Oregun, where the church is located.”
The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe,
confirmed the incident, adding that the service
deployed two fire trucks from the Alausa station in
the area. The director noted that no life was lost in
the inferno.


He said, “We got the distress call at about 5am. We
immediately deployed two fire trucks from the Alausa
Station to attend to it. Four containers caught up in
the fire contained electrical appliances, pumping
machines and pieces of furniture.


“We were able to put the situation under control.”