A fire outbreak on Friday night at Ejiba Street, off Kwara Stadium Road in Ilorin West Local Government Area, destroyed 15 rooms in a residential building.
According to the Kwara State Fire Service, the fire was caused by negligence in handling a gas cooker. This marks the second fire incident in Ilorin within a week.
Hassan Adekunle, the agency’s Head of Media and Publicity, stated that firefighters responded to a distress call at around 8:05 p.m. and managed to contain the blaze. “Out of 104 rooms in the storey building, 89 were saved, while 15 were affected,” he said.
Preliminary investigations confirmed that the fire started after a gas cooker was left unattended.
Earlier on Wednesday, another fire, also linked to a gas cooker, destroyed seven rooms in a 20-room building at Koro Compound, Oke-Apomu, Ilorin.
Reacting to the incidents, the Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Prince Falade John, urged residents to exercise caution when using gas cookers. He emphasized that negligence had led to two major fires within a week and warned against unsafe practices.
“The Kwara State Fire Service remains committed to safeguarding lives and property through proactive fire prevention and rapid emergency response,” the statement added.
