It was a heavy loss for Pastor Chris Oyakhilome as the headquarters of his church, Christ Embassy, located along Kudirat Abiola Way in Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, was gutted by fire.

The fire was blamed on power surge from one of the generating sets in the church’s power house.

The surge led to multiple explosions before firemen from neighbouring Alausa came on the scene to prevent the fire from spreading further. The spark occurred around 4pm and the fire raged for at least three hours.

Gone were 14 generating sets and the auditorium which was badly affected. A fireman was injured during the rescue mission.

Director of Lagos State Fire Service Rasaq Fadipe, said: “It was a very serious. The fire involved the generator house and cables

“They have about 14 big generators that were affected as well as the church’s stationary diesel and petrol tanks.

“However, our officials didn’t allow the tanks to burst. And we also prevented the fire from spreading to the air conditioner House.”

General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Agency Management Authority (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, told reporters: “Apart from the injured fireman, there was no casualty.” No official of the church was willing to speak last night.

•Partly based on a Nation report.