The Bauchi Fire Service says fire killed at least seven people and destroyed property worth N112.5 million in the state between July and September 2022.

The service said it also saved 46 lives and property worth N265.2 million in 66 fire incidents during the period under review.

This is contained in a fire incident statistics issued by fire service spokesman Abubakar Bala on Wednesday in Bauchi.

He said the data comprised domestic and industrial fire incidents, adding the service received 38 distress calls for fire incidents in homes with N108 million worth of property lost while N249.9 million others saved.

In the past two months, he said the service also received 23 calls for ‘special service rescue’ with 14 lives saved and four lives lost.

The spokesperson added that a distress call of a fire outbreak was also received for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and other institutions.

“We received one distress call on a hotel fire incident, where we saved N400,000 worth of property while an estimated N200,000 worth of property was destroyed in the process,” Mr Bala revealed. “We also received two distress calls on shop fire incidents and saved N14.9 million worth of property and property worth N4.3 million lost in the period under review.”

Mr Bala attributed most of the fire incidents in the state to careless use of cooking gas and inferior electrical appliances and advised residents of the state to ensure the safekeeping of gas and chemicals and switch off electrical appliances when not in use to guard against fire outbreaks.

(NAN)