Alarm over frequent fire cases in Elburgon

Some of the 17 plots that were burnt down to ashes at Kasarani slums in Elburgon, Nakuru County. [Kennedy Gachuhi/Standard]

Just what or who is behind the frequent fires that keep burning down homes in Elburgon town, Molo constituency?

This is a common question that remains answered after the latest fire that destroyed 17 homes, leaving 24 families without shelter on Monday night at Karasani slum.

Yesterday, the Government launched investigations to establish the cause of the fires that have so far left some 200 families homeless in a month.

“We want to get to the bottom of what causes the fires. But we cannot rule out the possibility of criminal elements,” said Elburgon Assistant County Commissioner Naftali Korir.

Arson suspected

He said the frequency at which these incidents are occurring was alarming.

“We are investigating all the cases and identifying those linked to arson. Unfortunately, a majority of the houses burnt down are rental. There are also isolated cases of tenants declining to pay rent,” he said.

Five fires have been reported in Kasarani, Mwatu, and Eastleigh slums, all within a 500-metre radius, since January.

On Monday, at least 24 families lost their property after a fire broke out at around 11am when most of the residents had gone to work.

On April 5, a fire ravaged Mwatu estate minutes before noon, an incident that left some 60 families homeless.

The incident led to the residents protesting against the rampant fires allegedly caused by arsonists.

The administrator also reported that on March 26, a 3am inferno which was luckily contained destroyed the home of Joyce Nyokabi, a resident of Arimi village on the outskirts of Elburgon town.

On the night of March 24 at around 9pm, a fire broke out in one of the houses in Eastleigh and quickly spread to neighbouring houses. The incident left over 60 families homeless.

Similar fate

Earlier that day, the residents and leaders had converged at Elburgon DEB Primary School for a fundraising towards assisting another 50 families from the neighbouring Mwatu estate who  suffered similar fate on March 12.

The March 12 incident was reported in the afternoon which, apart from destroying the homes, also razed a local church.

“A fire broke out at Mwatu village at around 2.20pm. Fifty families were displaced and Maranatha Church was burnt down. No injuries were reported,” read a statement by Korir on that day.

On August 8, last year, another 30 families were left in the cold after a 3am fire caught Kasarani residents unawares. Several other fires were also reported earlier that year.

Nearly all the fires follow a similar script, with residents suspecting arsonists are behind the incidents.

Molo Member of Parliament Kuria Kimani said he had written to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to conduct thorough investigations.

The informal settlements, established in 1992, host over 15,000 families that were evicted from the Eastern Mau forest bloc.

Due to population pressure, the residents subdivided the land into small plots with few and narrow roads that have been posing a challenge to firefighters responding to distress calls.