A fire broke out in one of the rooms at the female hostel of Bayelsa Medical University (BMU), Yenagoa, on Wednesday night, destroying students’ valuables and renewing concerns over persistent electrical faults in the facility.

The incident has left students and parents worried about safety conditions in the hostel.

Although no casualties were recorded, students said the fire, believed to have been triggered by an electrical spark, could have resulted in a major tragedy if the occupants had not escaped promptly.

Recounting the incident, some students described scenes of panic as thick smoke and flames quickly engulfed the affected room.

One of the students, a 400-level Nursing student, said the fire started shortly after she had gone to bed at about 9 p.m.

“I slept around after 9 p.m. Less than 20 minutes later, I started hearing people shouting. At first, I thought it was just another one of those regular electrical sparks we’ve become used to in the hostel,” she said.

“After the previous fire incident, there have been a series of sparks. People would shout but we often felt we were overreacting. So I initially stayed calm. But then my roommate kept screaming ‘fire!’ That was when I jumped up and ran out in shock. This time, the room was seriously burning.”

She added that efforts to extinguish the fire were hampered by non-functional equipment and poor water supply.

“I ran downstairs and saw a girl with the fire extinguisher, but nothing came out, it was empty. She tried the tap, but water was only dripping,” she said. “The hostel gate was also locked, which made escape and rescue more difficult. We’ve been begging the school authorities to keep the gate open, at least during the day, but they always cite security reasons.”

Another 400-level Nursing student said the affected room was almost completely destroyed before help arrived. She accused the school management of attempting to blame students rather than fixing the faulty electrical system.

“By the time we came out, the room had burnt to ashes. The fire extinguisher didn’t work. The boys had to break the back gate to gain access and help put out the fire. Before the fire service arrived, we had already quenched most of it, but all the students’ belongings, documents, laptops, clothes, were destroyed,” she said.

“Yet the school is trying to blame the students instead of admitting it’s their bad electrical connections causing these fires.”

A 300-level Optometry student who returned to the hostel during the incident described the chaos she met.

“I went out to buy toiletries and provisions. On my way back, I saw security personnel running around. People were rushing downstairs with buckets. When I looked to my right, I saw a room engulfed in thick flames. The bunk beds were burning. I just froze,” she said.

A 400-level Medical Laboratory Science student noted that repeated fire incidents have made students less responsive to alarms.

“Fire is no longer new to any BMU student. Last week, there was a fire incident; this week, another fire. We thought it was minor again, but it quickly intensified,” she said.

“I had to rush upstairs to rescue my important documents, WAEC certificate, laptop and other valuables despite the heavy smoke. I don’t have asthma, but I nearly had an attack. The smoke was overwhelming. I had a panic attack and started crying.”

Notably, on July 5, 2023, an early morning fire razed parts of a female hostel on the university's campus.

The fire reportedly broke out at about 6:40 a.m. and was traced to an electrical spark that occurred while a student was ironing her clothes.