Tragedy was averted in Awka, the Anambra State capital, when a one-storey duplex in the residential area of Udoka Housing Estate caught fire at about 3pm on Wednesday, while people were in the house. The situation was saved by early intervention of commercial water tankers, but before then, the roof and some parts of the upper section of the building had been gutted by the fire.

The white-painted duplex is said to be the property of an unnamed former director of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

Though the fire service operatives came to the scene with their lorry earlier, they couldn’t proffer any solution, as they complained of not having water in the vehicle. It took the intervention of the “tanker water sellers close to the estate” to help stop the fire from gutting the house.

Though the wife of the owner declined comment, an inside source who spoke to News Express, said the wife of the landlord was in the confines of her bedroom when the fire started. She reportedly ran out bare footed when she heard shouts of fire, fire. According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the fire was caused by an electrical fault from the change-over box panel. Being a residential building, no one was allowed access to the inner segment of the house

However, while people gathered to watch the ugly scene, the lady of the house who had a corn-row hairdo, jeans trousers and top was seen sitting bare-footed, beside some of their salvaged luggage, while some well-wishers surrounded her. On seeing the journalists approach, she smiled and simply nodded in acknowledgement of our empathy.

•Photo shows the razed duplex.