Traders at Arena Market in the Bolade area of Oshodi, Lagos State, were on Wednesday counting losses estimated to be in the millions of naira after a fire outbreak gutted a section of the market on Monday evening.

The fire razed a number of containerised shops, leaving many traders devastated as valuable goods were destroyed in the inferno.

According to The PUNCH, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the incident in a statement issued by its Controller-General, Margaret Adeseye.

Adeseye disclosed that the agency received a distress call at about 5:50 pm on Monday, which prompted the immediate mobilisation of firefighting teams to the scene.

She stated that the first responders arrived within five minutes of receiving the alert, as efforts were made to contain the blaze.

The Controller-General further explained that the fire affected five 40-foot container shops arranged in two rows, bringing the total number of shops impacted by the incident to 10.

She added that the inferno was successfully confined to the affected section of the market and brought under control without spreading to other adjoining areas.

When journalists visited the scene on Wednesday, fire service personnel were observed carrying out final damp-down operations to prevent any possible re-ignition.

Scavengers were also seen packing out bundles of burnt goods from the already damaged container shops as traders surveyed the extent of the destruction.

Speaking with our correspondent, a trader who identified himself simply as Chris blamed the rapid spread of the fire on the lack of water in the market’s fire engine.

He said, “When the fire started, the Arena fire service was the first to arrive, but when they got here, they discovered that they had no water.

“They went back again, and when they came back, the water they brought was not much. They had to go back to fetch more water. During this time, the fire had already begun to spread. In fact, they look confused.

“Despite all the money they are making from the traders, they can’t equip the section of the market for emergencies like this. It was not too long before the Lagos fire service came. Although they came with one fire engine, that didn’t suppress the fire until they later brought another one.”

Another trader, identified as teenage businessman Chidi Nwafor, said attempts were made to rescue some of the goods, but the fire spread rapidly due to the nature of items stored in the containers.

He said, “We tried to salvage some of the goods, but the fire spread so quickly because of the clothes kept in the containers. It was from that window that we were throwing the clothes out from,” while pointing to one of the burnt containers.

A video obtained by our correspondent at the scene showed a trader identified as Chibuike lamenting as the fire raged.

Chibuike was said to have restocked his shop just a day before the fire incident occurred.

Another trader, whose brother’s shop was affected, revealed that raw cash running into millions of naira was also destroyed in the fire.

He said, “He kept about N11m in his drawer with the intention of using it to restock after the New Year celebration. The incident happened when everyone was already closing, and he had already left. He ran back to this place only to see his shop on fire.”

The Arena Market incident occurred at a time when emergency responders were still at the scene of the Great Nigeria Insurance Plaza fire, where search-and-rescue operations were ongoing.