Fire guts popular Jos motor park

A popular motor park in Jos called the NTA Park has been gutted by fire.

The park is located opposite the NTA Jos Network Centre on the Yakubu Gowon way, Jos.

The fire was said to have started on Wednesday night, around 7:30 pm was and lasted for several hours before it was eventually put out by men of the fire service.

Chairman of the Motor Park, Maikwudi Ibrahim, told journalists in Jos, on Thursday, that no life was lost during the fire incident but the it destroyed several properties including shops.

He said, “The fire started in the office of our financial secretary and spread to shops around the park.

“The fire was much because it started where tires and forgotten items of passengers were kept and everything was burnt down. The drivers who always sleep in the park were still around, they were able to quickly remove their vehicles and that saved vehicles from being burnt. But the fire spread to shops and razed them.”

The chairman also said, “The fire was caused by a power surge from the Jos Electricity Company because, while we were still at the park, they restored light and took it again almost immediately. This happened more than ten times. It was when they brought the light for the eleventh time that we saw a spark from the Financial Secretary’s office and before we knew what was happening, the fire was everywhere.”

Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Federal Fire Service in Plateau State, Mr Matthew Edogbonya, was unavailable to comment on the incident.

A senior officer of the service, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the situation to NAN in Jos.

He said, ”The PRO and other key officers of the command are on the scene of the fire incident and can’t talk now.

”We can’t say what is the cause of the fire outbreak, but our men have been deployed in the scene to prevent further damage by the fire.

”At the moment, we can’t say the level of damage. Our immediate concern is to stop the fire from destroying property and human lives.”