The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), rescued seven orphaned children from a home that was consumed by a domestic fire on the afternoon of Sunday, July 16, 2023.
LASEMA’s prompt response was initiated after receiving a distress call at 14:43 through its toll-free emergency number, 112.
The agency’s response unit swiftly carried out the rescue operation, saving all seven male children who were residing in a one-story building that served as an orphanage and motherless babies home. The fire had originated from an air conditioning unit in the house due to a power surge.
The children, ranging in age from one to seven, were safely evacuated by the LASEMA Response Team (LRT) from the affected one-story building located at 7, Wole Madariola Street, off Enitan Kusimo Street, Aguda, Lagos.
According to a statement from Dr. Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, the Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, the fire had quickly spread throughout the one-story building, which housed the orphanage and motherless babies home. The fire was believed to have started from an air conditioning unit due to a power surge.
“A total of seven boys with ages ranging between one and seven years were quickly evacuated from the Home and safely relocated to the compound opposite the Home.
“Management Team of the Home informed LRT of plans to relocate the children to the house of the owner of the Home temporarily, to ensure their welfare was sustained.
“The fire which had initially spread to the storage room of the home has been extinguished with dampening down concluded.
“Post Disaster Assessment revealed that the whole of the first floor was salvaged, while the fire was contained in the store room and the rest of the ground floor was also salvaged.
“The children were formally handed over to the Deputy Director, Mr Balogun and Mrs Rasheedat Sadik, both of the Child Protection Unit of the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, who then formally handed the seven children over to the RED CROSS”.
In addition, according to the Office of the Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, no injuries or casualties were reported in the almost fatal incident. They stated that the operation was successfully completed within a remarkably short period of time.