Three business operators are counting losses after their shops were burnt down in an early Wednesday morning inferno in Kimilili town with the cause of the fire yet to be established. Residents of Kimilili have called upon the Bungoma County government to have a fire brigade point set up in each Sub County to avert such disasters.
According to the manager of Mvumilivu Safaris, Makokha Makosa whose office was also affected, he was called at around 3 am after the fire broke out and on reaching the scene a lot of property had been consumed by the intense fire.
Other businesses that were affected include a pharmacy and a retail shop that also housed an M-Pesa agent spot.On his part, the Kimilili business fraternity chairman Robert Simiyu Mattress expressed his sympathy to the owners of the affected shops and called upon the County government to purchase fire brigade equipment in every sub-county to ease accessibility in case other fire incidents arise in the future.
He said they struggled to put off the fire in vain saying they had to call for assistance from the Nzoia Sugar Company fire brigade that arrived much later after the fire had already caused a lot of damage.
A vegetable seller near the shop said the incident has negatively affected their business, saying customers who were visiting the shop and pharmacy were also their customers and called upon the government to consider compensating the affected people.
However Bungoma County public administration Chief officer David Kibiti who visited the scene also expressed his sympathy to the affected people saying as a County government, they have purchased two fire brigade lorries that will be launched soon.
However he called upon business operators to be aware of safety precautions incase of disasters that will be able to help them deal with such cases in future as well as have the numbers of the fire brigade to help them respond to disasters in due time.
