We are not responsible for Kano furniture shop inferno – KEDCO

Daily Trust reported how the furniture company located at Bompai area of the state was razed down by the inferno.

But the Kano DisCo in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Sani Shawai, said the fire was not caused by a spark from a nearby electric pole as claimed, but by the shop’s generator.

KEDCO said, “According to the Management, KEDCO Health Safety and Environment Unit carried out an investigation to ascertain the root cause of the incident in order to put the record straight vis-à-vis ongoing speculation that ‘the fire outbreak was caused by a spark from a nearby H-pole of Ahmadu Bello Way 11KV Feeder’.

“Our Health, Safety and Environment unit stated that based on findings and observations as well as interviews with some eyewitnesses, it was revealed that the fire outbreak was rather ignited by an electrical fault within the generator house and not due to a spark from our power installations.

“The fire could not have been ignited by a spark from the H-pole of Ahmadu Bello Way 11KV feeder close to the generator house as speculated because of the following observations:

“The J&P fuses were open and there was no load on any of the down dropper cables because the transformers were out of service for a very long time.

“No sign of fire or carbon deposit on the down dropper cables or at the base of the H-pole. Even if there is a spark, the fire is expected to manifest right under the H-pole not somewhere else.

“The power installation at the top of the H-pole is intact, and the rubber that was claimed to have dropped from the pole with fire could not have escaped the roofing sheet below the H-pole.

“Ahmadu Bello Way 11KV Feeder was tried and stayed at 06:40hrs without any amendment at the point where the ‘spark and rubber drop’ was insinuated.

“The erection of makeshift structure for generator, switch gear and diesel tanker were in gross violation of our standard safety code,” the  statement added.