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By Correspondent.
The morning has ended in terror for 73-year-old Pastor Awolola, who died helplessly on Monday after flames he ignited turned against him, sealing off his only escape and trapping him in a fiery enclosure in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
Sources said Pastor Awolola was clearing undergrowth on a parcel of land he owned along Cemetery Road in the Irewolede area of the state capital when the routine task took a deadly turn.
The Reporters gathered that the land, which houses an incomplete building surrounded by a perimeter fence with a gated entrance, became the scene of a nightmare shortly before noon.
According to the Kwara State Fire Service, the pastor set the bushes on fire, but the flames spread faster than anticipated.
Within moments, the fire surged out of control, racing towards the only exit from the premises and cutting off his path to safety.
As panic set in, the elderly cleric reportedly attempted to escape through the fence but the fire had already advanced to that point and he was trapped. By the time help arrived, Pastor Awolola had been overcome by the inferno.
The spokesman of the state fire service, Hassan Adekunle, who confirmed the sad incident,said firefighters were alerted and arrived the scene at about 11:58 a.m.
He said they battled the blaze and succeeded in extinguishing it before it could spread to nearby properties,however, their intervention could not save the victim.
The pastor’s lifeless body was recovered from the scene and handed over to the community chairman, Mr. Sunday Nuha, for further necessary action.
Also reacting to the tragedy, the Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Alabi Muhammed, expressed deep sorrow over the loss and described the incident as a painful reminder of the dangers of bush and undergrowth burning.
He warned that such fires are highly unpredictable, especially during dry and windy conditions, adding that they often lead to avoidable loss of lives and property.
Muhammed urged residents to adopt safer alternatives for land clearing and to promptly report any fire outbreak to authorities.
What began as a simple land-clearing exercise ended as a fatal lesson written in flames,one that has left a community in shock and a grim warning for others who underestimate the speed and fury of fire.
–Phoenix.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
