Property worth millions of naira were consumed in an early morning inferno at Rumuola area of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

An eyewitness, Obi Duke who spoke to Vanguard  explained that he noticed the fire about 5:50am on Sunday morning coming from A Pharmaceutical shop and raised the alarm.

 “There was restoration of Power. But the Current was too much and shortly after that We noticed the fire about 5:50am inside one the shops but it has likely started before then. When we tried to put out the fire with buckets of water there were frightening sparks from from the fire and we ran away and raised the alarm”

” We called fire service but there was no positive response. My boss called the owner of one of the shops, a Pharmacy. when they arrived and tried to open the shop to provide access for those making an effort to put out the fire, they were greeted with massive flames and ran back”

Chairman of the Community Development Committee of Rumuadaolu, Promise Atuzie said the CDC received news of the fire about 5:50am Sunday morning and made every effort to reach fire service official for help.

“We tried as much as possible to reach Rivers State Fire service and the response we got from them was that they were handicapped,  their Vehicles are not working and as such they don’t have what it takes to come to our rescue. We kept making series of calls. Finally shell fire service came and Bori Camp also came but before their arrival the fire had already done the damage.”

“The fire started from one shop but before they arrived, eight shops has been completely Consumed including about 15 One room self contain residential building behind the shops. They arrived the fire scene around 8:30am about two hours after the fire was noticed. I cannot say for sure what the exact Value of goods destroyed is, but I know that they are Worth millions of naira”

He called on the state Government to intervene and help those affected by fire.

“We are appealing to Rivers state Government to come to our aid to help cushion the effect of this loss. It is a good thing no life was lost. If the Rivers state Fire service has responded when called the damage and loss would not have been this bad. So we are appealing for the support of the Government”. (Vanguard)