The early morning inferno that broke out at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) exposed a crisis at the Nairobi County's fire department.
According to preliminary reports, the Nairobi fire brigade failed to respond to an emergency call from KBC despite being just two kilometers away.
Follow-up details disclosed that the team was unable to respond to the emergency at the State broadcaster as their fire engines are grounded due to lack of insurance.
The county government which is led by governor Anne Kananu attributed the crisis to the delayed release of funds by the National Treasury.
The insurance of the fire engines reportedly expired a week ago and is yet to be renewed.
"We urgently need insurance for our fleet to be able to cater for emergencies within the county since all our vehicles have grounded for the same," a letter by Chief Finance Officer Joseph Gathiaka read in part.
The letter was written to the insurer just days after Kananu reorganised the county leadership but as of Monday, July 11, the insurance policies had not been renewed.
This comes even as the National Council of governors asked the National Treasury led by Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani to release funds to counties to help them pay for essential bills.
Following their operational challenges, the fire at KBC was put out by a team of firefighters from Defence Forces Constabulary (DFC)– Kahawa Garrison, General Service Unit (GSU), the National Youth Service (NYS), GSU, and the G4S.
Only the canteen which is a stand-alone structure was partially destroyed by the fire that was contained at around 7:30 am.
According to KBC, normal broadcasting at the station were not interrupted despite an early morning inferno.
"Normal broadcast operations were not disrupted neither was the Broadcasting House affected by the fire which was contained in time. We still do not know the cause but Police are investigating," Acting Managing Director Samuel Maina stated.
