Death of students in dormitory fires unacceptable

 At Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru county,a dormitory gutted by fire at night.[Julius Chepkwony, Standard]

Kenyans woke to the shocking news of the death of 16 students in a fire incident at the Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, yesterday. 

The cause of the fire is yet to be conclusively established, but what is not in doubt is that the safety of students must never be compromised.

This incident is the latest in a string of fatal school fires either caused by arson, negligence or electrical faults, all of which are unacceptable because school environments must be safe for learners.

The latest fire, which broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning at the Meline Waithera dormitory block, also left several others hospitalised with varying degrees of injuries. 

That a single dormitory was housing 220 students, a staggering number by any standard, raises questions about overcrowding, compliance with safety regulations, and whether school administrators and the Education Ministry are paying anything more than lip service to student safety and welfare.

We have been here before. In 2017, a fire at Moi Girls School in Nairobi's Kibera killed 10 students. In September 2024, a midnight fire tore through a dormitory at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri and killed 21 boys, the deadliest school fire in recent memory, with most victims aged between nine and 13. Each time investigations are launched, officials express outrage, promises are made, and then the country moves on until the next tragedy strikes. 

Some years ago, the government moved to address this recurring nightmare. Following a wave of school fires in the early 2000s, the Ministry of Education issued guidelines requiring dormitories to have multiple emergency exit points, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and clear evacuation routes. 

Dormitory capacity was capped, with specifications requiring a minimum floor space per student, adequate ventilation, and non-combustible construction materials. Fire drills were made mandatory. On paper, these are sensible life-saving measures. But are they being followed? 

The question that must be answered now is whether Utumishi Girls Academy, or indeed any boarding school in Kenya, is complying with these requirements. A dormitory housing 220 students is a fire trap. In the chaos of a pre-dawn inferno, with exits that may be too few, too narrow, or obstructed, a higher death toll is likely.

What makes Kenya's situation vexatious is its relative uniqueness. School dormitory fires of this frequency and lethality are not a feature of school life in Uganda, Tanzania, or Rwanda, let alone further afield. What, we must establish, are we consistently getting wrong?

Investigations must go beyond establishing the cause of the fire. Every dormitory in every boarding school must be audited immediately for compliance with safety standards. School principals and county education officials who have turned a blind eye to violations must be held accountable. Sixteen students went to bed on Wednesday night and never woke up. That must not be allowed to happen again.