Carelessness: How Fire Gutted Access Bank Branch in Lagos

There were pandemonium today, Wednesday 26 August, 2020 as fire gutted the Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island Branch of Access Bank.

Customers and staff of the bank scamper for safety as fire fighters struggled to put off the inferno.

The fire started from a 33,000 liter diesel-laden truck and a car on the bank’s premises.

The truck was dispensing diesel into the generators of the bank when the fire started.

An eyewitness told Newscarte that the fire started from one of the bank’s generators which was working while diesel was being dispensed into it.

“I guess they didn’t want to switch the generator off before fueling it. That was where the fire started from. I will say it was carelessness,” the source said.

While the diesel truck and the car had been completely razed by the fire, emergency responders salvaged the situation by preventing the fire from escalating.

Confirming the incident, the General Manager, LASEMA, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said, “On arrival at the incident scene, it was observed that a fully loaded 33,000 litres diesel tanker with number plate AKD 637 XP and a car stationed beside it with number plate AKD 234 FA were completely ravaged by the fire.

“Investigation conducted at the scene revealed that the tanker was dispensing diesel for the uses of generators in the bank premises and inadvertently caught fire.

“A combined intervention of the emergency responders, LASEMA Response Team, Eko Hotel, LASG fire, UBA Fire Service, and Federal Fire are able to arrest the fire and stop it from escalating to further the building in the premises.
“No loss of life recorded, damping down ongoing.”

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