Fire guts down supermarket in city centre

By Emma Malin

Business was disrupted along Ronald Ngala Avenue, Nairobi for the better part of Monday morning when fire broke out at Ukwala Supermarket.

The fire which broke out at midnight took at least seven hours to extinguish.

Fire fighters attributed the long duration to put out the fire to the building’s inaccessibility at second floor where the fire started.

The fire is said to have started at Fashion Plaza’s second floor and spread to third floor.

“Penetrating the building’s second floor was hard and this slowed the process, ” said Major Jason Nyandwege of National Disaster Operation Centre.

Although the cause of the fire was not immediately established managers of the supermarket said they suspected an electric fault.

“We suspect electric fault as no gas cylinders in the supermarket exploded, however we are awaiting confirmation reports from police once they are done with their investigations,” said Rohit Shah, the manager and owner of the supermarket.

A total of 10 fire engines were used in the exercise with four from the Fire Brigade Department, two from the Department of Defence, two from KK Securex Services and two from G4S Security Company.

Though the City Council’s fire engine was at the scene, it could not be used in the extinguishing exercise since it was not operational. No casualties were reported.

Mr Shah told journalists that the cost of goods damaged could not be established. Electronic goods, clothes, utensils, mattresses, and jewellery were among the items that were destroyed by the fire. 

The police assisted by Kenya Power are investigating the cause of the fire.