Fire Outbreak: LASEMA Rescues Seven Children From Orphanage Home

LAGOS - The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said it has successfully rescued seven orphaned children from a home that was engulfed in a domestic fire on the Sunday, July 16, 2023.

The Agency said it acted on a distress call received at 14:43 through their toll-free emergency number, 112 and the LASEMA Response Unit swiftly initiated the rescue operation. They safely evacuated all seven male children from the one-story building, which served as an orphanage and motherless babies' home.

According to the statement signed by Nosa Okunbor, Head, Public Affairs Unit-LASEMA; the fire had originated from an air conditioning unit due to a power surge.

The rescue which took place at No. 7 Wole Madariola Street, off Enitan Kusimo Street, Aguda, Lagos had children whose ages ranged from one to seven years old.

Dr. Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, the Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, noted that the fire rapidly spread throughout the home, starting from the air conditioning unit.

"The LRT successfully evacuated a total of seven boys, aged between one and seven years, from the home. They were relocated to a nearby compound for their safety."

"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".

Furthermore, the statement from Office of the Permanent Secretary of LASEMA has it that, "no injuries, nor casualties were recorded in the near fatal incident, saying that the Operation was successfully concluded in record time".