LASEMA to equip, train emergency responders at Ladipo market

LASEMA to equip, train emergency responders at Ladipo market.

Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) is set to train and equip emergency responders at Aguyi Ironsi International Market, Ladipo.

Director-General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyitolu, stated this at a news conference at the Ladipo spare parts Market on Sunday in Lagos.

The National Daily reports that goods worth billions of naira were raised by fire in the early hours of Saturday in the market.

Oke-Osanyitolu was at the site of the fire outbreak to commiserate with the management, staff members and traders at the market on the incidence.

“We are going to train able-bodied people from this market. We are going to ensure that we have the presence of response units here.

“We are going to ensure that we educate them concerning early warning signs, the preventive aspects of emergency and response to emergency,” he said.

The LASEMA boss noted that the Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration was passionate about the safety of lives and property of residents in the state.

He said that as soon as LASEMA got wind of the fire outbreak on Friday night, all the first responders moved to the scene.

“We were aggressive about our response.

“We ensured that the buildings were not really affected. We have more than 40 shopping complexes in the market, which we battled to salvage from the fire,” Oke-Osanyitolu said.

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He noted that one of the major challenges encountered by the emergency responders was poor accessibility of infrastructure to the affected buildings.

The director-general said that the emergency responders also encountered able-bodied men, who tried to save their goods and property from the raging fire, instead of assisting in the rescue efforts.

He commended the agility and doggedness of the first responders, who toiled day and night to curtail the fire from spreading to other buildings without recording human casualties.

Oke-Osanyitolu added that many of the shops were stocked with car engines and highly inflammable materials.

He commended the leadership of the market for their cooperation during the operation.

“We were able to put out the fire after aggressive operations. We are going to look inward and put lot of things in order.

“We are also going to ensure that we work hand-in-hand with the local government as well as the management and staffers of the market to create easy access to the facility,” Oke-Osanyit olu stated.