More heartache for IDPs after fire destroys camp in Gilgil

By Antony Gitonga

Close to 200 families living in an Internally Displaced People’s camp in Gilgil were left homeless after a fire gutted makeshift dwellings.

The structures, made of polythene bags, sticks, canvas and grass were burnt to ashes as the owners watched helplessly.

Emotions ran high at Wanaruona camp in Kikopey, Gilgil, during the Wednesday midday incident where seven people were left nursing serious injuries.

Personal effects and foodstuff were destroyed during the inferno that spread fast through the structures due to strong winds.

Incidentally, the IDPs had just received food and clothes donations from a Nakuru-based church before the fire burned everything down.

According to the camp chairman Mr Joseph Waweru, the fire started from one of the grass-thatched structures. "We were discussing how the clothes and food would be distributed when we noticed smoke and rushed to the scene," said Waweru.

Lack of water

He said with the strong winds, lack of water and the nature of the houses, the fire spread fast and nothing was salvaged.

Area IDP leader Ms Beatrice Nyokabi warned that more fires could strike due to the drought and the nature of the camps.

"Most of the houses in the camps are made of tents or grasses and we fear more fire outbreaks," Nyokabi told The Standard.

Nyokabi said that IDPs were undergoing untold suffering in the satellite camps and called for quick resettlement.