Residents of Mutirithia village in Molo town, Nakuru County are furious after a fire burnt down their houses barely two months after the county government bought a modern fire engine.
Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui while unveiling the new fire engine said it would be stationed in the township and will be used to address rampant incidents of fires in Molo, Elburgon and Kuresoi areas.
The angry residents are now questioning where the fire engine is after the Tuesday night fire that gutted at least 20 houses in Molo.
An area resident, Njoroge Muchiri, said the area has had different cases of fire since the launch of the fire engines and no one has responded.
“Since the first appearance of the fire engine during the official launch in Molo town recently, we have never seen it despite fire incidents being reported in the area,” said Muchiri as quoted by Nation.
The locals said they had a hard time trying to access the area to put out the fire because there are no street lights.
“The area has no street lights and this has also been a source of insecurity,” noted Muchiri.
During the night incident, 20 families were left homeless after the fire which was suspected to have been caused by a jiko burnt down their wooden houses.
Property worth thousands of shillings were destroyed in the fire but no one was injured during the 9 pm incident.
“The flames were spreading fast. Rescuers used sand and water to put out the fire,” said Mary Wangui, another resident.