A businessman in Kitale near Kiboswa petroleum station is counting losses after fire gutted most of his property in his shop worth more than Kshs 3 million. Jacob Mwashi said most of the goods he was selling include timber, mattresses, plumbing machines among other stuff, added to that, he had money in his shop which were all destroyed by the fire.
Some of the locals, including boda boda operators, arrived at the scene quickly and tried to extinguish the fire. They were later joined by County firefighters and they managed to control the destructive blaze. However, it was too late as most of the property was already destroyed.
The boda boda operators complained that the County government firefighters didn’t have the capacity to put out the fire, as some were overwhelmed by the tools they were supposed to use.
“We urge the County Government to employ youths who are energetic and can put out fire immediately whenever the need arises. These workers have been overwhelmed by the water pipes and most of them were falling under pressure, this shows how a massive improvement is needed,” said one of the boda boda operators.
The County Executive Committee Member for Transport in Trans Nzoia County Wycliffe Kiiya arrived at the scene and thanked the boda boda riders for turning up in large numbers to offer assistance, noting that the inferno could’ve spread to Kiboswa Petrol Station leading to major losses.
He said the County Government is well prepared to deal with fires in the County as it has two fire engines and they normally respond quickly to disasters. He appealed to the residents to provide immediate information to the County officials whenever there is a similar incident to avoid incurring losses.