Two vehicles destroyed as fire guts motor park in Ilorin

By Ahmed Olayinka

A fire outbreak in the early hours of Saturday razed part of a motor park at Sawmill Garage in the Odo-Okun area of Ilorin, destroying two vehicles before firefighters contained the blaze.

The incident, which occurred around 2:48 a.m., prompted an emergency response from the Kwara State Fire Service after officials received a distress call reporting a fire at the busy garage used by commercial transport operators.

The Public Relations Officer of the Fire Service, Hassan Hakeem Adekunle, confirmed the development in a statement on Saturday, noting that firefighters were immediately deployed to the scene to control the situation.

According to him, two vehicles had already been affected by the time the fire crew arrived — a Toyota Sienna and an 18-seater commercial bus with registration numbers JJJ876HJ and KSF223SK.

Adekunle explained that preliminary findings from the driver of the affected bus indicated that the vehicle had returned from a long-distance journey the previous afternoon and was parked at the garage while awaiting passengers for another trip.

He said the driver was asleep when he suddenly noticed in the early hours of the morning that the bus had caught fire.

People at the motor park reportedly rushed to the scene and attempted to prevent the fire from spreading by quickly moving nearby vehicles away from the burning bus. However, a Toyota Sienna parked close to the bus also caught fire during the incident.

Firefighters were eventually able to bring the blaze under control within minutes, containing it at about 3:03 a.m. and preventing further damage to other vehicles parked at the garage.

Meanwhile, the Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Alabi Muhammed, advised vehicle owners and transport operators to regularly inspect their vehicles to guard against electrical faults and fuel leakages, particularly after long-distance trips.

He also urged operators to maintain safe parking distances between vehicles and ensure the availability of fire extinguishers at motor parks to reduce the risk of similar incidents.

The latest incident adds to recent fire outbreaks recorded in Kwara State, including a fire earlier in the week that destroyed six shops and goods worth millions of naira at Owode Market in Offa.