An early morning inferno razed down government offices in Murang'a county on Saturday, January 15.
The fire burnt down an office block housing department of Youth, Sports, Culture, Social Services, Adult and Continuing Education, Women Enterprise Fund, and National Council for Persons with Disabilities.
Eyewitnesses stated that the fire started from one of the offices before spreading to the other rooms, burning documents and other important files.
Locals, who swiftly responded to the incident, were compelled to break doors of government vehicles parked near the offices in order to push them away from the burning building.
The fire brigade from the County Government of Murang'a later rushed to the scene and contained the fire which had already destroyed property worth millions.
According to the County's Disaster Management officer, Bilha Wanjiru, two fire engines were dispatched after residents raised an alarm.
“We tried to contain the fire but unfortunately ran out of water. Our vehicles were forced to go back to our offices to get more water,” Wanjiru stated.
She added that more damage occurred after the fire engines left for refilling as tyres and cooking gas cylinders in the building exploded.
“Unfortunately nothing was salvaged from the building but by 6 am we had managed to put off the fire,” she explained.
She however called on all officers in charge of government offices to occasionally carry out a disaster management audit to ensure they are ready to tackle emergencies effectively.
“Officers should often be requesting my office for assistance and this will help us to avoid incidents like fire among others,” she insisted.
