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PHOTOS: Fire guts popular Emir’s ’s palace
A fire outbreak on Friday razed parts of the Jama’a Emir’s Palace in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jama’a Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna state, causing panic among residents and palace officials.
The blaze, which started in one of the residential wings of the palace, was still smouldering as of press time, with sections of the affected building badly burnt and several household items destroyed.
Sources said the affected apartments formed part of the wing occupied by the Emir’s mother.
The fire was reportedly noticed while the family was preparing for the Maghrib prayer, triggering confusion within the palace and the surrounding neighbourhood.
Officials of the Kaduna state Fire Service were said to have responded to a distress call, but initial efforts to contain the fire were hampered by a mechanical fault in their pumping machine, which delayed early intervention and allowed the flames to spread to about four flats before additional support arrived.
Security personnel and local volunteers joined firefighters to prevent the fire from extending to other parts of the palace, while access to the affected area was restricted to enable emergency operations.
Although. no casualty was recorded, the incident caused significant damage to property.
A resident, Babanbaba Dan Azumi, confirmed that the fire had been put out, noting that “it was confined to a section within the palace.”
Residents of the area have since expressed sympathy to the Emir of Jama’a, Alhaji Muhammadu Isa Muhammad, and the people of the local government, praying against a recurrence.
The cause of the fire had not been determined as of the time of filing this report, while authorities were yet to issue an official statement on the extent of the losses.
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