UNICAL Authorities Pledge Thorough Investigation of Recent Fire

Cursory: A fire at the University of Calabar damaged the Students’ Affairs Division, resulting in the loss of equipment. The Vice Chancellor, Prof Florence Obi, praised students for their efforts in controlling most of the fire before external assistance arrived. The cause is under investigation.

The University of Calabar’s administration has responded to the recent fire incident that engulfed one of the institution’s structures on Thursday night.

The blaze, which occurred at approximately 8:45 pm, consumed the storehouse of the Students’ Affairs Division, resulting in the destruction of office equipment, including air conditioners, computers, and students’ files.

While visiting the fire scene, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Florence Obi, acknowledged the unknown cause of the fire outbreak and stated that an investigative team would be appointed to determine its origin.

She said, “It is too early to talk about the cause of the fire incident. You can see that the fire is still on, and we have not been able to save the whole place.

“We are not looking at the cause now, but we are making sure that the remaining building and part of the building are safe. Eventually, professionals and experts will be invited to help in the investigation to determine the cause of the fire outbreak.

“It happened at night; people don’t live here. This is not a residential building. This is a central store. This section of the store is the furniture, computer, and other items section. It is a section that is mostly affected where we have our ACs, computers, mattresses, and a lot of other things that are affected. People are not here; everybody has closed and gone home.”

Regarding the fire service, she mentioned challenges with their availability and commended the students as the heroes in managing the situation.

She expressed dissatisfaction with the Federal Fire Service and the Cross River State Fire Service for not providing assistance, highlighting that the students had managed to extinguish 85% of the fire before the arrival of firemen from the Export Processing Zone.

In her words:

“I would rather choose to talk about my students who saved the day. They are the heroes of this incident. Then talk about the fire service.

“The students of the University of Calabar saved the day. Despite the inferno, they came in and took risks. They went into the fire; they were using sticks and stones, and they were using everything available to them. They were rushing to fetch water in the hostels with soap just to see that they had saved their university. The students are my heroes.

“Now the issue of fire service is something we don’t have in the state. I went to the state fire service, and the trucks were down. I went to the federal fire service, and they told me their trucks were down. I went to NPA, and they said they were discharging, and according to their laws, anytime they were discharging, they would not be able to move their trucks in case they had any incidents.”

Credits: ALLSCHOOL, PUNCH

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