Two sustain serious burns after fire razes down building in Nakuru

Nakuru, Kenya: Two people sustained serious burns after a fierce fire gutted a building at Barnabas Trading Centre along Nairobi-Nakuru highway on Monday evening.

The fire, which gutted the building adjacent to Fast Petrol station, caused a major scare as residents and fire brigade from Kenya Pipeline Company battled for over an hour to extinguish the fire.

Residents alleged that one of the rooms in the building housed illicit fuel dealers where the fire is suspected to have started.

The fire, which started at 6pm on Monday, threatened to spread to the nearby petrol station even as attendants and fire brigade moved in to contain the fire.

"The county fire brigade failed to respond on time. Despite our calls to the department, they dispatched the fire engine more than an hour later. Why do we pay for fire services when they cannot respond to fire emergencies?" Ahmed, a pump attendant said.

He added that they were forced to buy water to assist the efforts by the Kenya Pipeline fire brigade to put out the fire.

The owner of the shop Francis Muremi said the two who sustained injuries were operating from the building when the fire gutted the building.

Firefighters had a hard time controlling residents who flocked the scene oblivious of the danger posed by the inferno which threatened to spread to the fuel station.

However, according to area OCPD Bernard Kioko, one person sustained injuries and was taken to Provincial General Hospital in Nakuru.

Kioko said the value of the property destroyed by the inferno and the cause of the fire is yet to be established. He added that nothing was salvaged from the workshop.

"We are still investigating to establish the cause of the fire and following leads that the house where the fire started could have been housing illicit fuel dealers," he said.