NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 21 – Property of unknown value was reduced to ashes, and tens of families were left homeless on Monday night after a fierce fire ravaged rental houses at the sprawling Manguo slums on the outskirts of Nyahururu town in Laikipia County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fire, which was reported around 7:30 p.m., began in one of the timber houses before spreading to nearby structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Efforts to contain the fire by Nyahururu fire personnel were unsuccessful, as it was reported that the fire engine had no water, prompting residents to chase them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victims and residents joined forces in frantic attempts to salvage household items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the fire quickly grew more intense, and the residents were left helpless as their homes were consumed by the flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Susan Wangui, one of the victims, narrated how she heard distress calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When she came outside to check what was happening, she saw a massive fire near her house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joseph Ndung\u2019u, another victim, recounted how he found his house on fire and watched helplessly as he could not reach it in time to save his belongings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harun Kimathi, who works in Nyahururu town, was heading home when he saw a large ball of fire from a distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he got closer, he discovered that his rented house was burning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victims said they were unable to salvage their belongings, and some of them reported that individuals took advantage of the situation to steal their possessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laikipia Senator John Kinyua, who visited the scene shortly after the fire broke out, expressed his distress over the destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He criticized the unpreparedness and slow response of the fire department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kinyua also expressed disappointment that there was a nearby river just meters from the scene, but the firefighters lacked the equipment to draw water from it, which could have saved valuable time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Residents are now demanding that the Laikipia County Government procure and deploy an additional fire engine in the area to ensure a quicker and more efficient response to such incidents in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Efforts to contain the fire by Nyahururu fire personnel were unsuccessful, as it was reported that the fire engine had no water, prompting residents to chase them away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14341,"featured_media":29118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[422,25,1,26],"tags":[2328,15793],"coauthors":[7602],"class_list":["post-764416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-county-news","category-headlines","category-kenya","category-top-stories","tag-laikipia","tag-nyahururu"],"yoast_head":"\n