One person was badly burnt and several storage tanks and other items were destroyed when a diesel storage site caught fire at Ndieze Nwankwo, along Edibros Road, Uruagu, in the Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State, causing panic among residents and business owners in the industrial area.

The incident, which occurred late on Sunday, November 1, 2026, involved storage tanks containing Automotive Gas Oil popularly known as diesel, with eyewitnesses alleging that the inferno was deliberately started by an unidentified individual who set the facility on fire, raising strong suspicions of arson.

According to residents near the scene, the fire broke out around 5 pm on Sunday and quickly spread across the storage facility due to the highly flammable nature of the product, engulfing several heavy-duty tanks and producing thick black smoke that could be seen from a distance before help arrived.

Confirming the incident in a statement on Monday, the Head of Media and Publicity Unit of the Anambra State Fire Service, Chukwudi Chiketa, said the service received a distress call at approximately 5:45 pm on Sunday and immediately deployed its firefighting team from Nnewi Zone to the location to contain the blaze.

Chiketa explained that the firefighters worked for over three hours to bring the fire under control and prevent it from spreading to surrounding residential buildings and other industrial facilities, finally concluding their damping-down operations and departing the scene at 8:58 pm on the same Sunday.

He added that unfortunately one victim was affected by the fire and sustained severe burn injuries and was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency medical attention, while no death was recorded in the incident, even as the exact identity and current condition of the victim were not disclosed.

The State Fire Chief, Engr. Chiketa Chukwudi, stated that while the incident is suspected to be a case of arson based on allegations from eyewitnesses that someone deliberately set the facility ablaze, the actual cause of the fire remains subject to a thorough technical investigation by the service, which also urged petroleum dealers and residents to exercise extreme caution in handling inflammable products.