An elderly woman, her daughter and a house-help have died after their house in Kugerwet village, Kericho County, was razed down in a fire on Saturday.
The victims were identified as an 82-year-old woman, her 52-year-old daughter and their 20-year-old housemaid. All three were burned beyond recognition when flames engulfed their bungalow at around 2:30 a.m.
Residents said the fire spread rapidly, leaving neighbours helpless despite desperate attempts to respond. By the time emergency assistance arrived, the house had already been destroyed.
A distraught Rose Chepkorir Chemosit, who lost her mother, sister and their worker in the inferno, said she received a distress call at around 2 a.m. informing her of the fire.
“When I got home, I found the flames had already engulfed the house, and there was very little we could do to save them,” she said.
Chemosit recalled that she last spoke to her mother at around 8 p.m., describing her as jovial and in high spirits. She said the elderly woman had been looking forward to celebrating the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results of one of her grandsons.
“I don’t understand what happened afterwards,” she said.
Neighbour Benjamin Koech said residents were woken up by screams from the homestead, prompting him to rush to call for help, including alerting the fire brigade.
“By the time we got to the scene, we found a huge fire that had already spread to the entire house,” he said.
Another resident, Joel Siele, urged homeowners to consider installing alternative escape doors in their houses to enhance safety during emergencies.
Kapsuser Member of County Assembly Peter Kemoi, together with his Kapsoit counterpart Paul Chirchir, petitioned police to establish the cause of the fire.
“This is a huge blow to the village. The deceased elderly lady was an active member of the local community and church,” said Kemoi.
Kapsoit MCA Paul Chirchir appealed to the Kericho County Government to provide counseling services to affected family members to help them cope with the loss.
Kericho County Police Commander James Ngetich confirmed the incident, saying detectives had launched investigations to establish the cause of the fire and the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
He added that the bodies were moved to the Kericho County Hospital mortuary as police continue to piece together events leading to the fatal blaze.
