Kericho teachers rendered homeless after night fire disaster

Picture showing fire gutting down teachers' houses. [Nikko Tanui, Standard]

Ten teachers at Kapsoit Secondary School in Ainamoi, Kericho County, have been rendered homeless after a fierce fire gutted down a section of the staff quarters at the institution.

The School Principal David Ochieng said there had been a brief electricity blackout at the institution at around 9Pm Monday night and the fire incident started immediately the power resumed.

“The teachers were supervising the students for their prep time studies when the section of the staff quarters caught fire. We suspect the fire was caused by an electric fault,” he said.

Ochieng added that the school community managed to put out the fire by splashing buckets of water on the smoldering building before the county fire engine arrived.

“The teachers’ personal belongings and academic certificates were lost in the incident. Nothing was salvaged,” he said.

He said the school and the teachers lost property worth Sh1M.

“We appeal to well-wishers to assist us rebuild the destroyed staff quarters and to purchase essential household items for the affected teachers,” he said.

Kapsoit Ward Representative Paul Chirchir called on Kenya Power and the police to investigate and make public the probable cause of the fire.