By CYRUS OMBATI
A city council report has ruled out electricity fault as cause of a recent fire that destroyed part of Kimathi House in Nairobi’s city centre.
The preliminary findings, according to the report seen by The Standard, shows the fire was an act of arson.
Police have been asked to investigate those behind the act and their motives and to take appropriate action.
"All power circuits in the affected floors were found to be intact. This rules out the theory that an electrical fault may have been the cause," said part of the report.
The report showed the fire originated on the fifth floor of the building and seemed to have started from all corners.
"It seems to have been started from all corners because it was burning allover. The duty officer through the cell phone reported at the scene in attendance that house was well alight at the fifth floor and requested more assistance and the Turn Table Ladder," says part of the report.
Late ladder
The report details how an alarm was raised through a woman who rushed to the main door and alerted a guard on duty that there was fire upstairs.
The guard identified only as Kiamba rushed on foot to the fire station, a few meters away and informed officials there of the incident at 7.41 pm.
The fire engine arrived there three minutes later but the duty officer said the whole floor was already on fire.
The Turntable ladder aboard the new fire engine had to leave Enterprise Road in Industrial Area for the scene and arrived almost an hour later. By then the fire had spread to the upper floors and caused massive damage.
The turntable ladder is a specialised aerial apparatus used to gain access to fires occurring at heights where conventional ladders might not reach. It is mounted on a turntable on the back of a truck chassis, allowing it to pivot around a stable base, which in turn allows a much greater ladder length to be achieved.
Second break out
At about 11pm, the fire brigade team, which now composed of the Nairobi City Council, G4S, KK, National Youth Service and others managed to contain the fire.
The report says the fire broke out again at 2.44am and the turntable ladder rushed there in four minutes and managed to contain the fire several hours later.
And speaking to The Standard, City Chief Fire Officer Peter Ngugi said the turntable ladder has the capacity of putting out a fire that is on the 16th floor and disputed claims it was unable to work in the incident.
"We are the only ones who have such an equipment. It was on the ground and it is the one that managed to contain the fire."
