DRIVERS: How it happened was sketchy initially when a tanker offloading fuel at NIIPCO Fuel Station went up in flames putting residents and motorists in pandemonium.
The fire started at about 7.30pm on Thursday evening.
A reliable source who was present when the fire started told SOJWORLD.COM that a spark from the station’s generator was the cause of the fire.
The truck offloading the 33,000 litres of petrol (PMS) had hardly offloaded three out of the six sub-tanks when the fire started. Like James Bond film, the driver of the truck simply known as Goke summoned unusual courage to save lives and properties entered into the truck after removing the pipe from the reservoir, he drove the truck out of the fuel station to the main road. Though the fire was still burning on Gbongan Road without the Fire Fighters, they tried to reduce cost of damages, as if they were dreaming according to the driver.
He said, “A thought came to my mind to remove the truck head, so we were looking for a spanner to remove the head from the main body. I had the spanner with me and still looking for it until someone gave me another spanner before I realized I had one with me. I was confused. We removed the head of the truck from the burning tank and drove it away from the scene of the fireâ€
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The driver eventually succeeded in saving lives and properties by driving the head to a nearby Mobil Fuel Station on Gbongan Road where SOJWORLD.COM was able to see one of the drivers who narrated how it happened. The drivers was seen receiving calls from his wife, relatives and friends thanking God for saving their lives.
The road on both sides was cordoned off by the police to avoid escalation of the fire. The IBEDC wire was badly affected, the storex tanks at opposite of NIIPCO was equally damaged beyond repairs.
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There is possibility that the Salah festival will be spent in darkness considering the extent of the damage done to the poles and electric cables is evident.
The Osun State Fire Fighters came with about four full loaded trucks to combat the fire that is still burning as the time of filing this report. The Fire fighters did a marvelous work to put off the raging fire as sympathizers also joined to assist.
The two truck drivers are the heroes of the day, but for them, there would have been many casualties.
Gas selling point is also within the station that would have aggravated the raging fire. The drivers saved the day.
Apart from the owner of the station rewarded the drivers for their bravery in saving lives and properties, the state government needs to recognize them for saving the state from what would have been a tragedy at this festive season.
People were seen praising and showering prayers on the drivers for saving their lives.
www.sojworld.com © June 14, 2018
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