The Nakuru business community says the county firefighters are ill trained and equipped to handle fire tragedies in the region.
Nakuru Business Owners’ Association patron Harun Mwangi said county firefighters lack the necessary skills and knowledge required in dealing with fire outbreaks.
Mwangi said most fires that break out in the county could be easily handled if the firefighters were well trained and equipped.
Speaking Tuesday to this writer in during a phone interview, Mwangi said the county government should invest in the training its firefighters to avoid future tragedies where businessmen lose millions of shillings through fires.
“Our firefighters do not have the modern skills of addressing fires and it’s upon the county government to ensure that they are well trained and equipped to deal with any tragedy that occurs within the county,” said Mwangi.
“If we cannot equip them, then we will continue witnessing the kind of destruction like the one we saw at Rumish Paints Company over the weekend,” he added.
He added that the business community was ready and willing to work with the county government with the aim of improving the disaster response mechanisms of the county government.
However, Nakuru fire station senior officer Joseph Kuria when contacted, dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying the department is fully equipped with well trained officers, and blamed poorly planned buildings for delayed fire response.
“Some buildings have very limited access and for a fire engine to access them, it takes time and at such time is when you find that nothing is salvaged. Fire officers in Nakuru undergo a periodic training and therefore someone cannot stand and say that we are ill trained,” said Kuria