INFERNO

School dormitory, residential plot gutted in evening fire

BY JOEY KIMEU

Property running into millions of shillings was reduced to ashes in two separate incidences of fire in Embu County; at a school dormitory and at Dallas estate.

No one was injured in both infernos that started at around 8pm and whose cause is yet to be established.

In Dallas estate of Embu town, a residential plot of about 10 timber houses was gutted by a fierce fire. Nothing was salvaged.

Samuel Ngari, who lost all his property in the fire said they heard an explosion like that from a gas cylinder and within no time the houses were engulfed in fire.

“Because the of timber walls, the fire spread very fast. We were unable to extinguish it and had to wait for the Embu fire fighters who took too long to respond and arrived when everything had been razed down. If they arrived earlier, perhaps we could have minimised the losses,” he said,

Kirimari Ward MCA Morris Nyaga the delay by the fire fighters was occasioned by a traffic jam within the town.

He called on the fire brigade to place equipment at a central place in estates for rapid deployment.

He also helped the affected families.

Elsewhere, students of Kanja Secondary School lost their property when fire engulfed a dormitory while they were in classrooms for preps.

The dormitory had a capacity of 100 students, while according to parents that was the third fire incident in the school in the last three years.

A teacher told the press that locals responded to screams from students and managed to contain the fire.

Parents who visited the school to find out the status of their children sought for an explanation on the scores of fire outbreaks in the school.

Esther Muthoni, a parent, said students should not be sent at home, adding that they are not ready to cater for the damages until they know the truth about the causes of the fires.

Police are investigating both incidences.