Over thirty families in the Ilbissil area in Kajiado County are counting losses after a fire burnt down their houses leaving them homeless on Thursday night.
According to the victims, the fire started when a neighbour's seat caught fire after he left a lit jiko unattended in a closed house.
“If it wasn’t for the men who helped us, we would have burnt to death in our sleep,” one villager stated.
The villagers further faulted the government for the delay in coming to their rescue. Despite their efforts to save their property from burning proving unfruitful, they were left to watch as their wealth went down the drain while waiting for the county fire department.
“I’m glad no one has died, but we couldn’t save anything because every time there is a fire in this town, nobody comes to our rescue, the county government needs to do something,” another resident stated.
They further implored county officials to intervene as members of the 30 families had nowhere to go or sleep.
“If the county had sent the firefighters, we wouldn’t be sleeping outside today, but now we need their help,” the resident added.
In another incident, property of unknown value was destroyed on Thursday night, after a fire broke out in the store around the Githurai 44 area, along the Thika superhighway.
According to a report by the Kenya Red Cross, rescue teams were deployed to the scene to contain the situation, confirming no injuries or deaths were caused by the fire.
“All my investments just went down the drain, why me?” one business lady lamented.
On February 2, an explosion at the Embakasi area in Nairobi left six people dead and hundreds nursing injuries, after a gas refilling station burst into flames.
A few days after the explosion, Embakasi residents in the Soweto area spent the better part of the night on February 6 in the cold after a fire broke out in one of the houses built close together, burning down several others along with it.
