Mathare: Residents left homeless as fire destroys 50 homes
Dozens of Mathare residents were left homeless after a huge fire destroyed more than 50 houses on Monday night.
Kenya Red Cross officials and police said the incident occurred in the Mlango Kubwa area and spread quickly.
“Fire outbreak reported in Mathare, Mlango Kubwa area. Our Community-Based Disaster Response Team (CBDRTs) is at the scene,” the Red Cross said.
Residents and shop owners tried to salvage what they could before the Nairobi County fire engines arrived to put out the fire.
According to the agency, the fire was later contained by fire brigades alongside CBDRTs, who had a difficult time accessing the scene due to the narrow roads in the area.
“An approximate of 50 households were affected with no casualties,” it added.
The fire comes at a time when the city is facing a worrying situation, as its firefighting capacity has been drastically reduced.
Out of 31 fire engines and water tankers, 26 have been grounded due to delays in procuring spare parts, leaving the city with just five operational vehicles to respond to emergencies across all 17 sub-counties.
This was revealed earlier this month by County Chief Officer for Disaster Management, Bramwell Simiyu, while appearing before the County Assembly’s Culture and Community Services Committee. He revealed that over 20 fire engines and tankers are currently grounded at the county’s central garage, awaiting repairs.
“We have 26 vehicles grounded for issues as simple as tyres and brake parts. We’ve discussed this matter and pushed for action. As we speak, only five operational fire engines are covering the entire city,” Simiyu said.
Another major obstacle is the city’s hydrant system. Although Nairobi has over 4,500 hydrants, only about 50 are operational.
Many hydrants were damaged during the construction of the Thika Superhighway. In 2018, it was reported that only 103 out of 4,044 hydrants were working.
The functioning hydrants are located at Globe Roundabout, Runda, Kijabe Street, Safari Park, James Gichuru, and three in the Industrial Area.
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