Kisii OCPD Tom Mutisya was injured on Sunday morning during a confrontation between police and residents following a fire that gutted down property worth millions in Kisii town on Saturday evening. Mutisya sustained injuries when stones were pelted at him from angry residents who accused the police of arriving late at the scene. Area OCS John Wamocho condemned the act, saying residents have developed a culture of confronting the police on duty. Speaking in his office on Sunday morning, Wamocho said his office is carrying out investigations to establish the exact cause and extent of damage the fire caused. “I have assembled a team of experts to establish the root cause and if there is any criminal element the perpetrators will be brought to book,” said Wamocho. According to an eye witness, the fire is alleged to have been caused by an electric fault from a barber shop in one of the stalls adjacent to Kemera Filling station before spreading and destroying more than 20 stalls with property that was stored in them. Irine Mwaura who owns a footwear shop said she lost Sh7 million in the incident. She lamented that her Sh2 million stock she had bought on Wednesday had now been reduced to ashes. The fire broke out when she had just closed shop and was heading home at around 7.30pm. Fred Nyakundi who operates an electrical appliances stall lost property worth over Sh350,000. He blamed the county fire department for being sluggish when they were called to put out the fire. Nyakundi said they came with a fire extinguisher and started applying without opening the stall that first caught fire and this caused the fire to spread further. On Sunday morning, there was fear of the fire reigniting since it had not been put out completely.

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