Mwembe residents have challenged the county government of Kisii to improve emergency services to curb fire incidents in future.
On Tuesday, fire consumed at least 14 kiosks in Mwembe suburbs, an incident that left many with more questions than answers over the county's ability to respond to emergencies.
Led by Simon Abuki, they challenged Governor James Ongwae to give priority to the fire department by equipping it for quick responses in future.
“The county government has not invested in the fire department despite promising traders in the past. We have been dealing with cases of mysterious fires in the last four years," he said.
"We want the governor to give fire department first priority on such incidents. Fire fighters are not properly equipped and probably that is why we lost millions of property," he added.
They also challenged the county government to take responsibility by compensating traders who were affected in the Tuesday morning incident.