Fire Guts Federal Government Girls College Umuahia

Several hostel blocks at Federal Government Girls College (FGGC), Old Umuahia in Umuahia South Local Government Area of ​​Abia State, were destroyed by fire on Tuesday, July 26.

The Nation reported no lives were lost in the incident that affected the students of the Junior Secondary School (JSS 2).

They were reportedly writing exams when the fire broke out and it was understood that they could not save anything from the incident.

Sources within the school told the publication that the JSS 3 block had been hit but occupied by the JSS 2 class because those in JSS 3 had gone home after finishing their exams.

The cause of the fire has been attributed to an electrical fault or power surge. A source said;

“The three hostel blocks contain more than 400 students. Three blocks were affected by the fire. Most of the students’ property and facilities were affected. Mattresses and beds are burned.

“The students left for evening classes and a few minutes later one of the matrons started shouting Fire. Everyone in the neighborhood had to hurry to get there.”

Acting State Fire Chief, Mr Arua Nnanna, confirming the incident, said;

“The cause of the fire has not been determined, but from the report we received from the field, we suspect an electrical failure. The students were not at the hostel at the time of the incident.

“They were on the other side of the hostel doing one or the other because exams were going on.

“The fire engulfed their mattresses, beds and other student valuables. The fire started from one room to another and by the time they called we were able to contain the spread of the fire.

“Had it not been for our presence, the fire could have engulfed the entire hostel blocks, but our presence narrowed it down to a section.

“It will be difficult to estimate the damage from the fire because they have lost so much. The damage is in the millions of naira. We have also held property worth several million naira.

“According to my assessment, each of the rooms contains about 20-30 students and about 3 hostels out of 5 blocks were affected. What they had to fight the fire was not enough, even though they had a fire extinguisher.

“They don’t have an early warning system; a smoke detector. The early warning system could have helped them and the damage wouldn’t have been much. But before they could sound the alarm, the fire had already overpowered the personnel and others on hand to fight the fire.”