Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has called on his successor, Governor Johnson Sakaja, to set up more fire stations in the city in the wake of another tragedy, which claimed eight lives.
Sonko, who has developed a strong online presence since he left office, took to X, formerly Twitter, to mourn the fire victims, albeit with a message to Sakaja, as he called on the establishment of stations in each of Nairobi's 17 sub-counties.
"In order to prevent future loss of human life due to fire tragedies, I would like to strongly encourage the Governor of Nairobi to put into action my proposals for establishing a fire station in each of the 17 sub-counties in Nairobi," Sonko said in a statement.
According to the former county boss, fire stations were set up in key areas such as Gigiri, Ruaraka, Kagundo Road, and Waithaka during his tenure, but they were not enough to ensure timely emergency responses across the city.
On Thursday, at least 80 families were left homeless after an inferno, which stemmed from a gas explosion, rocked Huruma estate in Nairobi.
One of the biggest points of criticism from area residents was the slow response from emergency teams, which worsened the destruction.
Emergency responders, meanwhile, claimed there was little they could do because their vehicle lacked fuel.
"Red Cross has not been able to reach here; the county government is also sleeping, because there is a new station that has been constructed just here to serve these areas, but when they were called, they said that they are searching for fuel," one resident said.
In the wake of the incident, Sonko, through his rescue team, announced plans to facilitate transport for the eight victims to travel to their places of burial.
Sonko also committed to purchasing a coffin for each of the eight victims in a bid to give them a decent send-off.
Nairobi currently has only 11 functioning fire stations, including the Khoja Fire Station and another one in the Industrial area. The two stations have been the sole pieces of infrastructure to contain fire disasters in Nairobi since independence, before others, including the Kangundo Fire station, were established in 2019.
The Huruma incident came a week after two other people died, while others were left nursing injuries following a fire incident in the Sinai area of Mukuru kwa Reuben.
According to reports, the fire, which left 200 families homeless, erupted on Thursday, September 5, in one of the houses.
Witnesses said that the fire began while most of the residents were asleep. However, attempts by the locals to put out the fire proved futile as it spread to other buildings.
