Fire Guts Protea Hotel Generator House

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

Almost a year after an inferno destroyed part of Protea Hotel located on the popular Isaac John Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, another fire yesterday gutted its generator house.

Although the incident recorded no casualty, it was gathered that the fire caused panic among the guests before it was finally put out.
Just like last year, yesterday's fire also emanated from the giant generator and had started with an explosion before it caught fire.
With the explosion, attempts were said to have been made to pacify the guests lodged in the hotel even as the members of staff first attempted to contain the fire to the initial source.

However, the fire was finally put out by the Lagos State Fire Service with three fire trucks-laden with water mixed with synthetic foam, which is more effective in containing fires of such magnitude was used.
One of the firemen who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "The water we came with contained the flames at the immediate environment where the generator exploded because the synthetic foam is not your typical foam, rather, it is in liquid form and when we sprayed it on infernos, it extinguished it completely."

Confirming the incident, the South-west spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, said the fire started from the generator house but was contained before it spread.
He said: "The generator house was what caught fire but it was put out thereby averting loss of life and property and this was due to the immediate response which prevented the fire from spreading to other structures within and outside the premises."