Fire Destroys Port Harcourt Businesses

A fire incident has destroyed goods and properties in the Port Harcourt Timber Market, Rivers State popularly known as Plank Shade in the Marine Base Area.

Business owners at the spot usually dealt in coffin production, aluminum zinc as well as home furniture, People’s Gazette reports.

Houses constructed with wood in the area were also destroyed. Although the cause of the fire is yet to be known, residents reported that the fire started by 11pm on Wednesday and burnt till the early hours of Thursday.

A shop owner who preferred to be addressed as Chigozie said calls put across to fire service were abortive as “until morning, no official from the Fire Service was seen at the scene.” Tamuno Akuro, a resident in Marine Base said the market gets burnt yearly, especially in December, but there was no fire last December. Mr. Akuro told the Gazette that this year’s fire outbreak is the worst.

The market has caught fire eight times in the last eight years.