A section of Nairobi Fire Brigade responders encountered a hostile situation on Monday, August 21, when they were confronted by irate Mathare residents.
The youth pelted the responders with stones as they were attempting to reach Village 3B, where a section of houses and structures were engulfed in flames.
According to an official from the Nairobi County Fire Brigade who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke, the agency had to withdraw to the unit due to the disruption by the hostile crowd.
It was not apparently clear why the irate youth targeted the fire fighters, who were there to contain the fire.
"Nobody knows why they (the youth) started hitting them. They were simply on their way to put off the fire and out of nowhere, the youth started throwing stones at the trucks," he remarked.
By the time of publishing this piece, the cause of the fire was yet to be determined and the police were making there way to the scene to control the forming crowd.
The fire brigade official stated, "Our officers had no choice but to return to the station. The fire trucks are here and unfortunately, one of the windows has been shattered."
Additionally, the official said that one of the officers who was struck by a stone is in stable condition. The rest of the team came out of the situation either unscathed or with minor injuries.
The fire broke out a few minutes past five o'clock. No casualties had been reported at the time.
Kenya Red Cross responders arrived at the scene minutes after the fire broke out.
The duty officer of the Nairobi County Fire Brigade had to stay back to protect the equipment. This became necessary as a few water hoses had been taken off the truck earlier to control the fire.
In the same vein, the official stayed back to assess the damage, and determine the cause of the ambush to enable him file a comprehensive report on the incident.
Collaborating with fellow first responders, the officer worked to manage the agitated youth.
