Barely a week after a devastating blaze swept through the popular Singer Market, a fresh fire outbreak has destroyed about 50 shops at the Fatima Simra Multi-Purpose Market in the Dakata area of Kano State, deepening anxiety over the spate of market infernos in the commercial city.
The fire, which reportedly started around 5:40 a.m. on Friday, caught traders and residents unawares as flames rapidly engulfed a section of the market known for small-scale industrial activities.
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Dauda Haruna Chula, the chairman of the market’s fire committee, confirmed the incident, saying the most affected businesses were those involved in vegetable oil processing, plastic recycling and nylon production—enterprises that rely heavily on combustible materials and machinery.
“As of the early hours of today, about 50 shops have already been destroyed and the fire is still burning. We alerted the fire service and we can hear their sirens approaching,” he said while efforts to contain the blaze were ongoing.
Although no casualties had been officially recorded at the time of filing this report, traders feared heavy financial losses due to the destruction of equipment, raw materials and finished goods.
Many shop owners expressed frustration over what they described as delays in emergency response, a concern that has become recurring in recent fire incidents across Kano’s major markets.
The latest outbreak comes only days after a massive inferno at Singer Market displaced more than 1,000 traders and razed goods worth millions of naira. That incident, like several others recorded in the state in recent months, has intensified calls for improved fire safety infrastructure, better market planning and quicker emergency intervention.
Kano, a major commercial hub in northern Nigeria, has witnessed repeated market fires—often linked to electrical faults, storage of flammable materials, poor urban planning and limited access roads for fire trucks. Stakeholders say the concentration of industrial and trading activities in densely built markets makes outbreaks particularly difficult to control.
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As of Friday morning, firefighters were still battling to bring the Dakata blaze under control, while the cause of the incident remained unknown. Officials said a full investigation would commence after the area cools down.
The recurring fires have renewed pressure on authorities to enforce safety regulations, provide functional fire stations within commercial clusters and educate traders on preventive measures to avert further economic losses.
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