A fire engulfed part of the Rivers State Secretariat Complex in Port Harcourt on Friday, destroying some property but causing no casualties. The blaze reportedly started around 4pm on the ground floor of a tall building known as the Podium and spread to the office of the newly formed Rivers State Pension Board. Initial reports indicate that an electrical fault may have triggered the fire. Dr Honour Sirawoo, Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Information, confirmed the incident, saying firefighters acted swiftly to contain the inferno. “It was at the Podium Block of the State Secretariat, on the right side where the fire started. Fortunately, the State and Federal Fire Services responded promptly and managed to bring the situation under control,” Sirawoo said. Rivers State Head of Service, Dr Inyinge Brown, also confirmed that no lives were lost and praised the readiness of the recently rehabilitated State Fire Service. “We were informed of a fire at the right wing, ground floor of the Podium Block. The State Fire Service responded immediately, and we also engaged the Federal Fire Service, Renaissance partners, and the military, all of whom contributed to controlling the fire. Thanks to these combined efforts, the fire has been contained,” she said. Brown further commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s proactive steps in upgrading the fire service, noting that the situation could have been far worse without these improvements. She also urged civil servants to exercise caution, advising them to switch off and unplug electrical devices to prevent future incidents, particularly in heritage buildings.
