A five-year-old boy on Monday set a duplex building on fire while playing with match sticks in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.
Off Yidi Road in the state’s Ilorin West Local Government Area, the incident occurred at Abiodun Adebiyi close.
Before state fire service personnel arrived at the scene to save the building from destruction, one of the duplex’s bedrooms was completely burned and property was destroyed.
According to a witness who identified himself as Lanre Abdulrazaq, he was essentially a thief in the area.
He said, “We just noticed that a thick smoke was oozing out of the building. To make people aware of a rescue operation, we raised an alarm.
He said, “We did not know the cause of the fire, but later we saw the fire service coming and controlling it.”
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However, the spokesman of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, who confirmed the fire incident, said it was caused by a five-year-old boy who was playing with matches that he unknowingly dropped on a combustible material that escalated the fire.
According to Adekunle, a principal fire officer and head of media and public affairs for the state fire service, “Preliminary investigations revealed that a five-year-old boy was playing with matches when he accidentally dropped a lit stick on combustible material, igniting the flames.”
“On Monday, 3rd February 2025, at about 17: 32 hours, the Kwara State Fire Service received a distress call regarding a fire outbreak at Abiodun Adebiyi Close, Off Yidi Road, Irewolede Area, Ilorin.
Our brave firefighters quickly arrived at the scene to discover a burning one-room duplex with five bedrooms.
The team devoted themselves to contain the fire, ensuring that it didn’t spread to other rooms or nearby buildings, with sheer expertise and technical precision. Thanks to their exceptional skill and coordination, only one room was affected”, , he said.
Prince Falade John, the Kwara State Fire Service director, praised the firefighters for their quick and tactful action.
He urged people to place a higher value on fire safety and advised parents to keep matches a distance from children, putting an emphasis on the fact that a single matchstick could destroy an entire structure.
Source: Channels TV
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