No fewer than five people have been injured after fire gutted the factory of popular Lagos-based Company, Chemstar Paints Industries Nigeria Limited, producers of Finecoat Paints.
Our correspondent learnt that Chemstar Paints, which is located on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Alagbado, Lagos State, has a three storey building office at the front, while its warehouse and factory are at the back.
The fire was said to have started from the factory section of the company.
There were, however, two accounts of what led to the fire.
A worker in the company, who craved anonymity, said it was during the uploading of fuel that the fire erupted, while another source said it was during the production of some paints.
But the company had yet to give an official cause of the incident.
Firemen from the Lagos State Fire Service, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the Lagos State Ambulance Service, were said to be on ground as of press time.
A resident of the area, Adebayo Agboola, told The PUNCH that thick smoke billowed from the warehouse where finished products were kept.
The General Manager of LASEMA, Mr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said on the telephone that five workers with the paints company were injured and had been taken a hospital.
He said, “Five casualties have been recovered so far. While the condition of four of them is now stable, one other person’s condition is critical and we have rushed him to the Orile Agege General Hospital. He actually inhaled chemicals from the paints house and passed out. The fire is seriously raging, but the firemen are not giving up on it.”
A fireman on ground said, “Firefighting operation is still going on. Immediately we received the call, we deployed five trucks to the station from different parts of the state. Some other agencies are complementing our efforts at combating the flames.”
The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, said in a text message to our correspondent that the fire was serious.