·42 persons killed, 177 rescued

ONE thousand, six hundred and forty-two fire incidents were recorded in Lagos State between January and June 2023, with 42 persons killed.

Similarly, 177 persons were rescued, while N14.62 billion property were destroyed.

In its mid-year activity report, the Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, explained that out of the 1,462 emergencies attended to, fire disasters ranked highest, with 924 incidents in different parts of the state.

92 emergencies on rescue were recorded, 41 on salvage, three on explosion, and two on building collapse, while 400 false calls were received.

Adeseye, in a statement by the agency's Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Agboola Ololade said: "The estimated properties saved is about N87.72 billion, leaving the properties loss to N14.62 billion.

"Fire incidences increased indiscriminately from the same period compared to the previous year."

"Investigations revealed that carelessness and negligence were the major causes of the disaster. There was an increase in unfavorable calls that keep occurring due to the change of strategy in the attendance to distress calls without double-checking for false calls."