In case of big blaze in Nyeri, help is 27km away

The only fire engine big enough to fight a major fire at Nyeri Council is old and needs to be changed, making the town rely on one from Karatina council, some 27 kilometres away.

The engine creaks under the weight of water and can hardly be relied on to reach the scene of fire in time. “When people ask me whether I have a fire engine, I tell them I have none,” says Nyeri mayor Joseph Thairu.

Its efficiency

He says he fixed the old behemoth when he took office in 2007, but no amount of repairs can improve its efficiency. Efforts to get a bigger fire engine have not been successful.

Mr Thairu says the council has been assured by the Deputy Prime Minister and minister for Local Government Musalia Mudavadi that the ministry would buy new equipment for local authorities. “The government is rescheduling funds to ensure that councils get new fire-fighting equipment.” That was several months ago, said the mayor.

The ministry donated only one engine to the council, with a capacity of 3,000 litres of water in 2006 so the town still relies on a fire engine from Karatina council in case of emergencies.

Last year, a hotel near the fire department yard was burnt to ashes as fire fighters waited for help from Karatina. The town is prone to major fires affecting homes, businesses and bush fires that occur in some of the expansive ranches that border the area. Last year, a fire engulfed a slum at Ngangarithi estate, destroying more than 10 timber houses.

With buckets

The small engine made several trips for water as residents fought the fire with buckets of water and soil.

In the past, Solio ranch has caught fire, while President’s Kibaki Rware farm in Naro Moru Town on the Nanyuki-Nyeri highway is also prone to bush fires and has been victim of absence of fire fighting equipment in Nyeri.

The President promised to act on a memorandum given to him last year, part of which was the need for a fire engine.