Property of unknown value was destroyed after fire razed down a dormitory and several classrooms at Kisumu Boys High School on Saturday morning.
According to the school Principal Duncan Owiye, the fire broke out at the affected dormitory at 8:30 am when the boys had already gone to class.
The fire brigade was called and by the time they arrived, the fire had already spread to the adjacent classrooms.
“Unfortunately, the affected dormitory which accommodated 100 students was entwined to one of the classrooms where the fire quickly spread to,” he said.
The Kisumu City Fire brigade was overwhelmed by the inferno which was spreading quickly forcing the security officers to call for reinforcement from Kisumu International Airport.
The joint effort with support from members of the community managed to contain the fire at around 10:00 am.
The Principal said all the 1, 500 students at the institution were safe and no casualties had been reported.
The school’s executive management board, he said, was set to hold a consultative meeting to make a decision on whether to close down the institution.
“We are taking statistics of the affected area and the number of students. If a decision is made to close the institution, we shall communicate the same to the parents through bulk messages,” he said.
Kisumu Central Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Hussein Alanson Hussein who spearheaded the operation confirmed that nobody was injured in the inferno.
He said a team of government agencies were on the ground to establish the cause of the fire and assess the extent of damage.
“This is a very unfortunate incident after the school just reopened the other day. We are not in a position to say what caused the fire but investigations are underway and we shall give a report at a later date,” he said.
Hussein said his office was working together with the school management and other stakeholders to ensure that normalcy is restored at the institution.
By Chris Mahandara
