Homa Bay County gets Sh150m fire engines from UK firms

Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti (C) receives a fire engine from the international chairman of Workington Rotary Club Ken Kirkwood in Lancashire, UK. [File, Standard]

Homa Bay County Government has received a donation of two fire engines from a United Kingdom-based organisation.

The modern firefighting engines, worth Sh150 million, were presented to Governor Cyprian Awiti by the Rotary Club of Workington and the Florian organisations.

This makes seven of the vehicles donated by the Rotary Club to Homa Bay County since 2018. Mr Awiti said he was grateful to the Rotary club for the gesture and continued support.

"I am humbled by this great support. It will save lives, assets and bridge waiting times for emergency services," said Awiti.
He thanked Kipnyango Seroney, Homa Bay goodwill ambassador and Lydia Olet of Kenya in the park for facilitating the donations.

County chief of staff Eliud Otieno Ochieng presented a report of how previous fire engines and ambulances were doing. Mr Onyango said since 2018 there were 61 fire incidences reported and 85 per cent were successfully handled.

Rotary club chairman Ken Kirkwood said they are ready to work with the county to develop capacity to deal with fire incidences.

"We are honoured to welcome you to Lancashire. Our visit to Homa Bay was an eye-opener. We were warmly received and we look forward to the training visit," said Mr Kirkwood.

He was accompanied by former president of the club Councillor, Alan Barry.

"These are important donations by the Rotary club and operation Florian. They will help save lives in Kenya," said Ms Olet.

A fire engineer Gary Higgson from Operation Florian demonstrated how the engines work. "These are complex engines but they are also dangerous and that is why users must get high-level training," said Gary.

Gary was one of the trainers who was part of the previous trip to Homa Bay.

Seronei urged the county to take care of the fire engines. "We are committed to helping more counties benefit from similar donations," said Seronei.

Awiti was also accompanied by Finance CEC Nicholas Koriko and Liaison officer Michael Wuya.