A fire incident on Thursday, July 16, destroyed property worth millions at a market in Elgeyo-Marakwet County.
The incident which occurred at Kapchorop Centre razed down a number of premises which were in close proximity.
A trader and a mother of two recalled that the incident caught her unaware as she was in with her children in the stalls.
"Immediately we noticed the fire, I ran out to safety with my children shouting for help. We tried to salvage some of our belongings but we were not successful," the resident conveyed.
Watch the video courtesy of Daily Nation:
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Chief fire officer in the county, Bishop Wafula Mukhwana stated that upon receiving distress calls from the residents, he mobilised his team to deal with the incident.
"Together with the firemen on duty, we were able to put off the fire. We found residents trying to put it out but they were not able," he stated.
He however added that the cause of the fire was still unknown as investigations were underway.
The fire chief appealed to the county and national governments administration to assist the traders who lost their goods in the fire.
Watch the video of the fire chief Narrating below:
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Fire incidents in market areas have been reported in various counties in the past year, with the most recently reported at Gikomba Market where a number of structures at the cereals and 'mitumba' sections were burnt down on June 25.
The June incident was the fourth time the market has been engulfed in flames in 2020, with a huge section of the stalls burning down to ashes on two separate occasions in April and once in February.
County govenments have improved their capacity to respond to the fire incidents, however noting that there were challanges in terms of access, when the infernos occur in informal settlements.
A 2010 research paper by the Univeristy of Nairobi observed that for better response, the city's fires services should be decentralized from within the city center and have fire stations at all sub-county headquarters in the city.
The insitution also recommended that communities be involved in fire fighting directly through training and drills.
