Traffic in and around the city centre was in chaos this afternoon and evening, following a fire at a major supermarket downtown. We first got news of it just after it had happened at 3pm, as warnings came to avoid going into town. Looking out of the office window towards downtown Nairobi, the city skyline was enveloped in a thick dark cloud of smoke. As I drove home, I could hear sirens. A couple of small emergency vehicles passed by, driving off-road to get passed the line of traffic. A helicopter hovered overhead. Four hours later as I left orchestra rehearsal to return home, traffic jams still stretched for miles (thankfully for me, mostly in the opposite direction). The news gave reports of the supermarket having been completely gutted resulting in the loss of millions of shillings. Whilst there are reports of injured workers, it’s not yet known if there were any fatalities. What came across
clearly was that whilst the fire fighters fought the fire valiantly, they were woefully unprepared and untrained, and chaos reigned. It apparently took half an hour to respond, despite the city council fire brigade being located just a street away from where the fire was! Only one fire hydrant produced any water, water hoses burst, and water simply ran out. Curious onlookers endangered themselves, gathering in large numbers dangerously close to the inferno. All in all, a reminder that whilst Nairobi may have some of the appearances of a modern city, many of its services fall way short of standards found elsewhere in the world.
Traffic in and around the city centre was in chaos this afternoon and evening, following a fire at a major supermarket downtown. We first got news of it just after it had happened at 3pm, as warnings came to avoid going into town. Looking out of the office window towards downtown Nairobi, the city skyline was enveloped in a thick dark cloud of smoke. As I drove home, I could hear sirens. A couple of small emergency vehicles passed by, driving off-road to get passed the line of traffic. A helicopter hovered overhead. Four hours later as I left orchestra rehearsal to return home, traffic jams still stretched for miles (thankfully for me, mostly in the opposite direction). The news gave reports of the supermarket having been completely gutted resulting in the loss of millions of shillings. Whilst there are reports of injured workers, it’s not yet known if there were any fatalities. What came across 
clearly was that whilst the fire fighters fought the fire valiantly, they were woefully unprepared and untrained, and chaos reigned. It apparently took half an hour to respond, despite the city council fire brigade being located just a street away from where the fire was! Only one fire hydrant produced any water, water hoses burst, and water simply ran out. Curious onlookers endangered themselves, gathering in large numbers dangerously close to the inferno. All in all, a reminder that whilst Nairobi may have some of the appearances of a modern city, many of its services fall way short of standards found elsewhere in the world.
3 comments:
One of the ladies on our office brought me a Reuters' article about this fire. Really sad. The article said that 45 people were missing and 15 confirmed dead but burnt beyond recognition.
Which Nakumatt burned -- the one on Uhuru Highway, near the stadium? Reuters quoted someone as saying that Nairobi is a modern city with an 18th century fire fighting infrastructure. After living in Kenya for 18.5 years (Tigoni and Nairobi), I'd agree except it's not just the fire fighting infrastructure that is outdated.
Maybe it was the one on Kenyatta Ave.
It was Nakumatt Downtown, which is on Kenyatta Avenue. Today's Sunday Nation talked of 23 dead, with another 46 unaccounted for.
Last night a petrol tanker fire resulted in the death of 91 people in Molo.
Post a Comment