An infant died and property worth hundreds of thousand shillings destroyed when fire razed down a family house at Syiokimau area in Athi River on Tuesday.
Victoria Kivuti, aged one and half, was asleep in her parents' bedroom when their five-roomed stone house caught fire at midday.
Nelson Kivuti, the father to the deceased, said the child's mother had gone shopping at Mlolongo when the incident happened.
Kivuti, who was at home when the fire broke out, got burnt in a fruitless attempt to save the child.
"I was around in the homestead when the fire broke out, tried to get to the bedroom to save my daughter Victoria but did not manage since the flame was too strong to bear," said Kivuti.
Mavoko Fire Brigade, who arrived at the scene 10 minutes after the fire broke out, managed to put it out from the roof before the entire house was razed down.
The sub-county deputy fire brigade supervisor Dennis Masila told this reporter that they were informed of the incident by a police officer from Mlolongo Police Station through a phone call.
Masila said the fire that also consumed all household goods, including furniture and electronics, was most likely caused by an electric fault.
The body of the deceased was moved to Machakos Level 5 hospital's mortuary.
Elsewhere on the same day, at around 10am, property worth Sh500,000 was lost in another fire which broke out at a home in Katani village, Athi River.
The five-roomed mabati house belonging to David Makori was completely razed down by the fire. There was no casualty reported in the incident.
The Mavoko sub-county fire brigade supervisor said the fire, which was also suspected to had been caused by an electric fault, could not be controlled because of communication delays.