By Jabiru Hassan, Kano.
Following the fire incidence that occurred in the midnight of December 19, 2021 at Alibert Furniture Shop of Club Road, Bompai, Kano State, the Management of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) herewith state that the company is not responsible for the fire outbreak.
This was disclosed by the company’s head of corporate communications Ibrahim Sani Shawai in a press statement he issued to newsman in Kano, where he states that
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 due to 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.
1.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:
a. 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.
b. 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.
c. 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.
d. 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.
e. The erection of makeshift structure for generator, switch gear and diesel tanker were in gross violation of our standard safety code. Therefore, it can be concluded that the fire outbreak was not in any way ignited by KEDCO’s installations based on the points above, rather a technical issue from Alibert’s generator house mainly the changeover switch as observed by one of the eyewitnesses.
” We, therefore, advise the public to adhere to safety standard within there premises and to also avoid the violation of the right of way of power lines”. The statement concludes.
