Fire Causes Commotion At Rivers Secretariat

Pandemonium broke out yesterday afternoon at the Rivers State Secretariat complex following a fire incident in the pharmacy office of the Ministry of Health located at the fourth floor of the Block A building.

Though no live was lost, sensitive documents and some office furniture were burnt, including the rug in the ‘junk’ office, as it was described yesterday by some civil servants at the scene.

As at the time men of the Rivers State Fire Service arrived at the scene, some civil servants had begun fighting the fire in order to prevent it from spreading to adjacent offices in the building.

Civil servants who were rattled by the incident were seen scampering for safety through the stair ways as the lift was shut down to avert stampede.

An official of the ministry, who spoke to newsmen on condition of anonymity, stated that the fire was sparked-off by a fluorescent bulb that fell from the ceiling of the office at about 1pm in the afternoon.

The source continued that the overheated bulb burst into flames and torched the papers and rug in the office.

“What we saw first was smoke and them the whole floor was engulfed in the smoke and before we could trace the particular office, fire had started burning inside”, he said.

The fire was successfully put out by a combination of civil servants and men of the fire service.

Attempts to see the Commissioner for Health failed as he was not in the office at the time of the incident.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Emmanuel Chinda, has commended the Rivers State Fire Service for its quick response to the incident.

Mr Chinda, who made the commendation in an interview with newsmen while reacting to the incident, said he alerted the fire service as soon as he was informed of the incident, saying that the fire would have “done grievous damage, if not for the quick response of the fire service.”

The Commissioner said the situation had shown that Rivers State Government was well prepared to confront any emergency in the state.

Also reacting, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Jokotade Adamu, also thanked the fire service for its quick response to the distress call.

Mrs. Adamu called for a fire station to be built at the secretariat complex.

John Bibor