Posted by By CHIDI NNADI on
Part of the over N2 billion Stallion House, managed by Stallion Property and Development Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was Tuesday morning gutted by fire.
Part of the over N2 billion Stallion House, managed by Stallion Property and Development Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was Tuesday morning gutted by fire.
The fire, which was said to have started by 1:00 a.m., was a result of the explosion of one of the standby generators in the building. The 1,000kva Cummins brand of generator, valued at N15 million and installed at the base of the building, was said to have exploded causing fire to run through the cable duct to the floors.
Eyewitnesses told Daily Sun that the fire finally went wild when it came to the 11th and 12th floors, housing the National Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO), another subsidiary of the NNPC. The fire ravaged the NETCO floors, destroying many things due to some highly combustible engineering materials used by the company.
Besides NETCO, the other tenants of Stallion House are Ecobank, Oando and Zakhem, an oil-servicing firm, among others.
Some of Stallion House tenants, who spoke to Daily Sun under condition of anonymity, said the exploded generator had been faulty, with Stallion Property refusing to fix it. But when contacted, the Corporate Affairs Officer of Stallion, Mr Obiora Nwankwo, dismissed the claim, saying that the two generators in the building were in good condition until the unfortunate incident.
According to Nwankwo, the company's security men and some of the engineers were able to contain the fire with the help of fire fighters from the Federal Fire Service, Lagos State Fire Service, Julius Berger, Mobil, Ecobank and Union Bank.
He said their men were trained in fire fighting, just as other tenants in the building, adding that they had used their underground water pipe to fight the fire, which was put out at 6:00 a.m.
When contacted, the Head, Corporate Communication of Oando, Ms Tokunboh Durosaro, said their offices and workers were intact, adding that they may be operating from their other Lagos offices in the interim.