By Antynet Ford
Nairobi City County is grappling with challenges of safeguarding the city residents especially in vulnerable areas like Kibera, Mathaare and Kawangware in conjunction with the alarming fire incidents.
With only five operational vehicles being left to respond to fire emergencies across the seventeen sub-counties, the shortage brings a dire and worrying situation as the firefighting capacity has been drastically reduced.
In a meeting with Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna this week, firefighters revealed that the issues facing the department in the capital are serious and need to be addressed as soon as possible.
“The fire department in Nairobi is just a disaster that will explode soon if our challenges are not addressed on time. We have challenges that should not be existing in such a capital,’ a firefighter who requested sought anonymity to avoid being victimized afterwards stated.
The team told the senator that even though the complaints by the city residents on delay of response to disasters is genuine, they are unable to respond because they are grounded.
“We see people complaining all over why there is delay but the reality is most of these vehicles cannot function properly. As much we sympathize with our fellow city residents we don’t have anything else to do,” he added.
Out of 31 fire engines and water tankers, 26 have been grounded due to delays in procuring spare parts, leaving the city with just five operational vehicles to respond to emergencies across all 17 sub-counties.
Another major obstacle is the city’s fire hydrant system.
Although Nairobi has over 4,500 hydrants, only about 50 are operational.
Many hydrants were damaged during the construction of the Thika Superhighway.
In 2018, it was reported that only 103 out of 4,044 hydrants were functional.
With a population of more than Sh5 million, the Kenyan capital has been experiencing frequent outbreaks with informal settlements.
Recently, Sakaja revealed that the county was working to improve its disaster response with the launch of the Nairobi Disaster Management Authority.
Sakaja said the new authority is expected to operate autonomously to improve disaster preparedness and response across the city.
As part of these efforts, the governor also confirmed plans to construct three additional fire stations to help address Nairobi’s growing need for better fire response.
Currently, Nairobi’s six fire stations include those on Enterprise Road, Kangundo Road, Ruaraka, Gigiri, and Waithaka, in addition to the historic Tom Mboya Fire Station.