Eyewitnesses and gym members have disputed the FCT Fire Service’s claim of swift response to the fire outbreak that destroyed the Eco-Fitness Centre in Gwarinpa, Abuja, on Wednesday morning......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Over 50 people narrowly escaped the fire which gutted the popular fitness facility located opposite H-Medix on 4th Avenue.
Eyewitnesses who spoke to THE WHISTLER said men of the fire service arrived almost an hour after the fire began, contradicting the claim that firefighters reached the scene within 15 minutes.
Richard Odion, a gym member who was inside when the fire broke out, said: “It all started when we were working out, then we heard screams that fire had burst out from the top roof, so everyone started rushing outside.
“The moment the fire started, everyone began making calls because we know there’s a fire service office close by. But they came so late. By the time they arrived, everything had gone to the ground but I’m happy no life was lost.
“The gym is new, it is not even up to two years and has a lot of members, it was packed inside when it happened. It is really terrifying and heartbreaking, I just hope the building has an insurance so that the owner can recover some things,” he added.
Dr. Clinton Itotoh, another gym member, described the incident as a “sad experience.”
He criticised the fire service, saying, “They are less than 20 minutes from here, yet it took them almost an hour to come. This is millions wasted here today because of a bad system, especially in the fire service.”
He added, “they are supposed to have standby water and everything for emergencies but coming after one hour later, everything was gone. They even had to go and refill one of the trucks, in fact there was no preparation for emergencies.
“It is sad, because this is one of the best gyms in Abuja and this is millions wasted here today because we have a bad system, especially in the fire service. Today was supposed to be my day 100 as a member of the gym,” he added.
The gym manager, Oladipo Olaolu, declined to speak with THE WHISTLER but corroborated the allegation of delayed arrival.
In his interactions with men of the Fire Service, he was heard saying: “We called them but it took them almost one hour to come. We have smoke detectors and we heard the alarm. Immediately we heard it, we told everyone to start evacuating the building.”
THE WHISTLER had reported that among emergency responders on ground were personnel of the Nigeria Red Cross and the FCT Fire Service.
Speaking with our correspondent, Chukwuma Mathew Ogonna, Deputy Disaster Management Officer of the Nigerian Red Cross, FCT branch, said the alleged late response of firefighters could be attributed partly to road congestion and accessibility issues.
“At the time I was called, I heard that the Fire Service were already on ground and before we got here, we saw that everything has been burnt down by fire.
On claims that the fire service response was late, Chukwuma said, “It is normal, the thing is that we keep on improving, if you have been monitoring fire incidents and the response time and you will not blame them, but we keep on encouraging the government to keep supporting them.
“There is a station here in Gwarimpa, people from Gariki and Kubwa are here too but accessing the road to Gwarinpa is not easy. Also you see that motorists are not able to give you the space to pass, even when they know you are heading to respond to an emergency. So there are a lot of factors that can hinder them from being here on time.
“My first response here was to take care of the fire service man with a cut on his hand, then telling people to stay away to avoid more casualties.
“If you look closely, there is no access to the building so it is hard for the fire service to access it, it is only when something happens that people begin to talk, but we need to consider accessibility of buildings, especially during emergencies,” he said.
Fire Service Reacts
Responding, the Acting Director, FCT Fire Service, Comptroller Adebayo Zacheus, said they got to the scene as soon as they got the news of the incident and started to combat the fire.
He, however, was unable to provide specific information on what led to the incident. According to him, the fire service will investigate the matter.
He said, “There was a distress call about an hour ago concerning this structure being used as a gym, when we received the call, we mobilized FCT and Federal fire service, to the scene and less than 15 minutes, the fire was put under control.
“From preliminary investigation, the fire started from the roof of the structure and it was not discovered on time, which was why we were not contacted on time. The neighbours are the ones who saw the fire and called the fire service, so we mobilized ourselves.
“From the look of the structure, the whole body is padded with combustible materials, which can spread fire within a short period of time but we thank God no life was lost and the fire is under control.
“We will carry out our investigation to know the cause of the fire, but from our preliminary investigation, there was power supply when the fire began and also solar panels on the roof of the structures with batteries which were exploding while we were combating the fire.
On accusations that they failed to respond to the situation on time, Zacheus said, “when I came, I called the person that said that and asked him to show me the number he called but he could not provide it, he said it was his neighbor that called the fire service, but then were playing music at the ground floor and could not hear the fire alarm.”
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