A fierce fire razed down a dormitory at Olkejuado Boys High School in Kajiado County on Monday, destroying property worth thousands of shillings.
The inferno, which started at 11:30 am when the students were in class, left 80 students stranded after their beddings and personal effects were burnt to ashes.
The School Principal James Pasiany said nothing was salvaged during the incident, as the fire was too fierce and they did not have enough water to put it out.
Pasiany said a teacher noticed smoke coming out of the dormitory and on a closer look it was noted that the dormitory was already up in flames.
He added that although the cause of the fire has not been established, it could have been caused by an electric fault.
“The fire started at around 11:30 PM and luckily no student was injured as they were all in class. We tried to save property by putting off the fire but we ran out of water and all the students’ beddings and personal effects were reduced to ashes,” said Pasiany.
Kajiado Central Deputy County Commissioner Nobert Komora confirmed the incident and appealed to the County Government to purchase firefighting equipment, as they had to rely on water bowsers from private organisations to put out the fire.
“This is the third incident happening in the town and the main challenge when putting off a fire is lack of water. I appeal to the county government to purchase a fire engine to assist during fire outbreaks.” Said Komora.
Cases of fire incidences have been frequenting in Kajiado town in the past few weeks, with residents losing property worth thousands of shillings due to lack of firefighting engines in the area.
Last week, a fire at Namayiana Rescue Center within Kajiado town destroyed all property, leaving the 15 girls who call the place home, homeless.
The fire was put out by good Samaritans, including Boda boda riders but nothing was salvaged.
Barely a month ago, ten houses were razed to the ground by an inferno which destroyed household property worth thousands of shillings and left families homeless.
Nothing was salvaged during the incident as there are no firefighting equipment available, despite county government headquarters being located only a few kilometers away.
By Rop Janet
