Traders count losses as fire razes cars, shops in Homa Bay

Eight cars, four shops and three stores were destroyed in a fire that has once again put the Homa Bay County disaster management team on the spot over slow response.

Property estimated to be worth Sh30 million was lost in the fire that broke out at 2 am on Wednesday at Garage Road.

The county disaster response team arrived three hours after the fire had consumed the property.

By the time the team got there, the intensity of the flames had reduced after residents tried putting out the fire using water and soil.

UNREACHABLE

Traders who were affected said they could not reach the county emergency response team on time in a bid to help salvage their property.

The traders accused the county government of lacking a proper communication channel which can be used to reach firefighters who recently received two fire engines from England’s Cumbria County Council.

Mr Vincent Omondi, a garage proprietor, said he lost Sh12 million worth of property, including cars which were being repaired, and motor vehicle spare parts.

EXPIRED INSURANCE

He said the property he lost may never be recovered because his insurance cover had expired.

“I was planning to renew my insurance cover this week after it expired a while ago. If the emergency team had responded fast enough, some of my property would have been saved,” he said.

The traders appealed for help from the government to recover from the loss.

The Nation has learned that a team of firefighters who have been tasked to respond to emergencies in the county are on a go-slow because of delayed payment of salaries by the county government.

Some of the workers who did not want to be named claimed the county government has failed to pay their salaries for several months.

The firefighters said they had vowed not to respond to emergencies if their payments are not made on time.

NO PAY

“We have made attempts to ask our employer to pay us on time but our pleas seem to be falling on deaf ears. Fire truck drivers decided to abandon the emergency vehicles at the county headquarters until our grievances are addressed,” a firefighter said.

A similar case was also witnessed last month when fire burnt down shops in Ndhiwa town.

Attempts by traders to reach the team failed because of lack of a proper communication channel.

HOTLINE

County Disaster Management Director Eliud Onyango defended his office against accusations of laxity.

He admitted that the county emergency response team does not have a hotline number that residents can use to reach them.

However, in case of an emergency, he said residents can call the police who will then alert the team.

“We are coming up with a number that locals can use to reach us. In the meantime, we rely on police as our channel of communication in case of an emergency,” Mr Onyango said.

He accused some residents of calling only after damage is already done.

“Some people call the police when it is too late. An example is the latest incident where we got the information hours later after it (fire) started. We encourage residents to get in touch with security officials a soon as they see fire for us to respond on time,” he added.