Federal Government Girls College Umuahia Razed Down By Fire
Tuesday, July 26
2022 is not a day to remember for staff and students of the Federal Government
Girls College (FGGC)
Old Umahia in Umahia South Local Government Area of Abia State South-East
Nigeria.
According to a report from The Nation, no
life was lost in the unfortunate incident that affected the Junior secondary
school JSS2 students of the school.
Information gathered revealed that nothing
could be saved from the fire incident as the students were writing exams when
the fire started.
Some sources told the Nation newspaper that
the JSS 3 block was affected but it was occupied by the JSS2 students since the
JSS3 students have already gone home after finishing their exams.
The cause of the fire has since been
attributed to a power surge or electrical fault. Here is what a source said;
READ
ALSO – CROSS RIVERS UNIVERSITY STUDENT WHO WAS KIDNAPPED HAS BEEN RESCUED
“The three hostel blocks contain over 400 students. Three blocks
were affected by the fire. Most of the students’ property and provisions were
affected. Mattresses and beds got burnt.
“The
students left for evening classes and a few minutes later, one of the matrons
started shouting Fire. Everybody around had to rush to the scene.”
Acting
State Fire Chief, Mr. Arua Nnanna who confirmed the incident said;
“The cause of the fire has not been established, but from the
report that we got from the field, we are suspecting an electrical fault. At
the time of the incident, the students were not inside the hostel.
“They were at the other side of the hostel doing one thing or the
other because exams were going on.
“The fire engulfed their mattresses, beds, and other valuables of
students. The fire started from one room to the other and by the time they
called, we were able to cut the spread of the fire.
“If not because of our presence, the fire could have engulfed the
entire hostel blocks, but our presence limited it to a section.
“It will be difficult to estimate the damage of the fire because
they lost so much. The damage runs into millions of naira. We equally saved
property worth several millions of naira as well.
“From my assessment, each of the rooms contains about 20-30
students, and about 3 hostels out of 5 blocks were affected. What they had to
fight the fire was not enough, even though they had a fire extinguisher.
“They don’t
have an early warning system; a smoke detector. The early warning system could
have helped them and the damage wouldn’t have been much. But before they could
raise an alarm, the fire had already overpowered the staff and others who were
there to fight the fire.”
Want your friends to read this too? Kindly share on
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
