Property worth millions of shillings were destroyed after fire broke out at Ikonge trading centre in Nyamira County at around 10pm.
Nyamira County Police Commander Kalimbo Mwandoe said security officers were dispatched to the scene to help put out the fire, as well as prevent looting of property.
He said the cause of the inferno was yet to be established.
According to a trader who spoke to the Nation, the fire began at around 10pm in one stall and then quickly spread to others.
“We tried to put out the fire ourselves in vain. It had already spread to several shops,” said Gilbert Ndubi, who owns a hardware shop in at the centre.
“We however successfully stopped the fire from spreading to a nearby petrol station. Had this happened, the story would have been different,” he told Nation.
Nyamira County has been hit by infernos in the past, with the county government promising to acquire firefighting engines.