Firefighters fast response saves Nakuru supermarket

Speedy intervention by the Nakuru County government’s fire fighting department saved the Gilanis Supermarket outlet from going up in flames on Tuesday night.

A fierce fire broke out at the supermarket located along Nakuru town’s Kenyatta Avenue at about midnight but was contained half an hour later.

Confirming the incident Nakuru OCS Joshua Omukata said the source of the fire that exploded covering the entrance of the supermarket outlet was not immediately established.

“Investigations have been launched to establish the cause of the incident,” said Mr Omukata.

A night guard at a nearby retail shop told the Nation that he heard a loud explosion and on drawing closer realised part of the supermarket was engulfed by a fire.

“I heard an the explosion and when l realized it the place was on fire l swiftly alerted a friend who in turn alerted members of the county fire brigade department,” said Mr John Njuguna, a night guard.

The county’s emergency response and disaster management department has in the past been accused of being ineffective during fire outbreaks.

On February, this year two fire incidents in Nakuru town left property worth millions of shillings destroyed in what residents said was a poor response to the incident.

In the incident, a hardware was razed to the ground with the disaster management team said to have responded hours after the fire gutted the store.

However, Governor Kinuthia Mbugua then defended the team saying, they had two fire engines but one had developed mechanical problems and wasn't operational at the time of the incident.