From Paul Osuyi, Asaba

The Federal Secretariat complex in Asaba, Delta State capital, was gutted by fire, yesterday morning.

The fire, which started at about 7am, razed the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) section of the complex.

Although no life was lost, one of the men of the Federal Fire Service trying to put out the raging inferno was critically injured.

The victim fell from the second floor of the six-storey building and fractured one his arms in the process of fighting the fire.

The fire had overwhelmed the fire fighters stationed at the complex, but reinforcement from the state fire service succeeded in extinguishing  it before it spread to other parts of the complex.

When Daily Sun visited the scene, some NYSC staff and the state coordinator, Mrs. Olutayo Samuel, were sorting documents and files.

Mrs. Samuel said everything in their section was completely destroyed, adding, however, that no life was lost.

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“What happened this morning is very unfortunate. I got a call that our office was on fire and I quickly rushed here. I don’t know how fire gutted the office. Nobody can ascertain exactly the cause of the fire.

“Virtually, everything here got burnt, everything in the office got damage.

“All the file documents burnt to aches, but we have back-ups. You know this is technology age, so everything is in our system.

“Coincidentally, we took some of our systems to the camp and they are still in the camp; so there will be no setback because we have them in the system,” she said.

A staff of Nigeria Fire Service, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the prompt response from the state fire service prevented the fire from spreading to other sections.

“We thank God that no life was lost, but two of our men sustained injuries. One of them is in critical condition because he fell from second floor while combating the fire.

“We quickly rushed him to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC). What really happened today is sad.

“We don’t know what actually caused the fire, but we assume it could be electrical surge,” he narrated.