Fire Razes Houses, Shops In Kano Plastic Market

A fire outbreak has razed six houses housing plastic shops and storage facilities at the Kofar Wanbai Market in Kano State.

The fire, which occurred around 9:43pm on Friday, started from the upper floor of the building at the Babban Layi, Yan Robobi (plastic) section of the market before spreading to the first and ground floors.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kano State Fire Service, Saminu Yusif Abdullahi, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

Yusif said the affected buildings included Gidan Alhaji Sani, Gidan Sani Muhammad, Gidan Alhaji Kwa Kwa, Gidan Alhaji Shafi’u and Gidan Alhaji Sulaiman.

He said firefighters from the Service Headquarters, Rijiyar Zaki, Sabon Gari, Government House and Bompai stations responded to the incident and prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the market.

According to him, the affected structure, measuring about 120 by 125 feet, contained two shops on the ground floor, two shops on the first floor, six stores and four temporary stores on the upper floor.

“The fire started from the upper floor before spreading to the first and ground floors,” he stated.
Yusif said preliminary investigation traced the cause of the fire to a solar system.

He quoted the Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Sani Anas, as urging traders and residents to take proactive measures to prevent fire outbreaks.

Anas also advised members of the public to install fire detectors and keep functional fire extinguishers in their homes and shops.

He urged traders to adhere strictly to fire-safety measures to prevent a recurrence.