By Yunusa Isa, Gombe
A block of the Gombe State Ministry of Health’s Medical Stores was razed by early morning fire, resulting into lost of multi-million Naira medical equipment, consumables, drugs and injections.
Speaking to newsmen during an inspection tour at the stores, the State’s Commissioner for Health Dr Habu Ɗahiru said the fire started at about 2:00 am on Monday.
He said “The staff on duty quickly informed officials in charge of the stores, who equally alerted firemen for emergency response, but before the firemen could reach the stores, the inferno has done major damages on the store, resulting into collapse of the eastern wall of the block”.
The commissioner said investigations are ongoing to ascertain the cause of the fire and the level of damage.
He added that despite the huge destructions of drugs meant for the forthcoming March immunization exercise against child killer diseases, the state government will not relent on its oars to ensure the success of the exercise.
Dr Habu Ɗahiru maintained that the ministry will immediately reach out to Federal Government, donor agencies and organizations to bridge the gap created by the inferno.
On his part, the Director Gombe State Fire Service represented by his Operations Officer Umar Faruk, said they received a distressed call eight minutes past three a.m (3:08 am), and immediately mobilized their men to the scene.
He said the firemen successfully contained the fire from further spread to other blocks.
While suspecting electric mishap for the inferno, the fire officer said the service will soon brief the press upon completion of investigation.
He charged ministries, departments and agencies to train their staff on how best to use fire extinguishers in case of emergencies.
Huge smoke was still noticed from the razed down store during the commissioner’s inspection around 11:00 am on Monday.