No fewer than 17 tricycles and two petrol tankers were destroyed in two separate fire outbreaks at filling stations in Kano State on Tuesday.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kano State Fire Service, Saminu Abdullahi, confirmed the incidents in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Abdullahi said the first fire occurred at AA Ayagi Filling Station, Kanye village, along Gwarzo Road in Kabo Local Government Area, at about 8:45 p.m.
He explained that the service’s control room received a distress call at about 20:45 hours from one of its personnel, Muhammad Wada Abdulsalam, reporting a fire outbreak at the station.
According to him, firefighters from the Rijiyar Zaki division were immediately deployed to the scene, where they found a petrol tanker conveying Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) already engulfed in flames while offloading fuel.
He said the tanker, with registration number XPB 999 FA and owned by AA Ayagi Company, had discharged fuel from two compartments into an underground tank, while three other compartments containing about 5,000 litres of petroleum products were being offloaded when the fire started.
“The inferno completely destroyed the tanker truck,” Abdullahi said.
He added that the second incident took place at Al-Wahida Nigeria Limited Filling Station, Rimin Kebe Karshen Kwalta, in Nassarawa Local Government Area.
According to him, the affected tanker, owned by BA Bello Company and bearing registration number KHX 29 XA, was conveying about 45,000 litres of petroleum products.
“The fire started during the offloading process and destroyed the tanker head and part of the tanker body, as well as 17 tricycles (Adaidaita Sahu) parked nearby,” he said.
Abdullahi noted that the fire was eventually contained, preventing it from spreading further, while a portion of the petroleum products and parts of the tanker body were salvaged.
He also disclosed that another fire incident occurred at Kundila Quarters, near SALSA College, where one room, a toilet and a corridor in a residential building were destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Sani Anas, advised members of the public, particularly filling station operators and fuel tanker drivers, to strictly observe safety measures during fuel handling and offloading to prevent avoidable disasters.
