Rumuagholu Town in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State was on Monday thrown into gloom as fire razed down goods and properties worth millions of naira.
It was gathered that the fire broke out in the early hours of Monday morning as a result of an electrical fault in one of the shops following the restoration of power by PHCN.
This led to the destruction of several lockup shops following the inability of firefighters to arrive promptly at the scene.
Affected traders counted their losses following their inability to rescue anything from the fire. Others lamented the loss of new supplies which perished in the fire, while calling on the government to come to their aid.
Meanwhile, the Zonal Controller of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) PortHarcourt, Godday Ineh, has attributed the major causes of fire outbreaks to illegal storage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in enclosed spaces.
He narrated that the storage of these products is a societal crime while urging landlords to sue tenants who store illegal petrol in their houses.
He added that pipelines vandals who steal crude oil and illegally refine it rarely take it to the market because of low patronage rather they look for an illegal way of storing it.
In recent times, Rivers state has experienced multiply fireout beaks that has destroyed properties and livlihoods of residents.
