Nairobi has only three fire stations serving a population of three million people. Photo/ FILE
NAIROBI Kenya, Aug 12 – “We need a fully equipped fire academy in the country to train fire fighters. Our fire fighters are trained at the Industrial Area fire station for nine months where we just provide the basic trainings of what entails a fire fighter,” the Nairobi County Chief Fire Officer Brian Kisali told Capital FM News.
With three fire stations serving a population of over three million people in Nairobi County, Kisali says the county is ill equipped to handle fires and other emergencies.
The county’s first fire station was built in 1907 while the second one was built in 1956 and the third was leased from the East Africa Breweries in 2006 by the County Government (then City Council of Nairobi).
“The government should build more fire stations to enhance the speed of responding to fire incidences and other emergencies in the county as well as nationally,” he said.
He observed that, “Internationally, a county like Nairobi should have more than 15 fire stations with the different types of equipment relevant with the kind of hazards that are around these areas.”
“Areas like the Industrial Area should have equipment that can deal with chemical fires, depot fire (petroleum and gas stores),” he pointed out.
He also urged the government to give more funds to the emergency department to enhance its capacity.
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