The Ondo State Government, on Monday commiserated with victims of the fire incident that exploded in Opa Community, Idanre Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu said at the occasion that the State Emergency Management Agency would take stock of people and properties affected for the government to provide succour.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a tanker fell off its truck and exploded in the community when it came to offload fuel at a filling station on Saturday.
Akeredolu, represented on the trip by the Deputy Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, thanked God that no life was lost and appreciated the men of the fire service who rose to the occasion to reduce the effect of the disaster.
He said the government is always conscious when it approves sites for filling stations in the state, especially in residential areas, adding that the filling station in question had been operating for years.
He noted that the state government had always been concerned about the siting of filling station, especially within the city.
“Accidents are inevitable, I think this is the first time such is happening within the city, but this approval was given by previous governments,” he added.
”I am here on behalf of the governor to do on the spot assessment of what has happened. We learnt that no life was lost, except those that are in the hospital.
“We want to call on people to be patient, the Ondo State Emergency Management Agency is here and we have taken the stock of all the properties and materials that are lost.
“We will do proper assessment and see what the government can do to support the people,” he said.
The governor called on the youth of the state to always be patient with the men of fire service anytime such incident happened and allow them to do their job.
However, the affected victims appealed to the State Government to quickly come to their rescue.
Mrs Dorcas Muhammed, a resident whose house was burnt, told newsmen that the fire incident happened two minutes after the tanker fell of its truck.
Muhammed said that all the occupants of the house escaped through the backdoor and could not pick their properties. “They are left with only the clothes they wore since the incident happened on Saturday.
She called on the government to quickly come to their assistance, saying that as a widow, all her hope was on the house.
“This is where I live and all our properties are in the house; as we heard the sound we escaped through the backdoor.
”All the equipment I bought for my children and everything I had ever worked for have gone with the house. We want government to come to our rescue,” she appealed.
Also, Mrs Akinbode Akinwalere, who spoke on behalf of affected shop owners, said they had to quickly escape to save their children but all their wares were been burnt.
Akinwalere said that she borrowed money from a microfinance bank to set up business and urged the government to come to their aid.
The Chairman, Idanre Local Government, Prince Kayode Aroloye, appreciated the state government for its proactiveness, noting that he had also visited the scene.
Aroloye advised the state government to consider siting a fire service station in the area as the city is big enough for such an establishment. — NAN
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