By Reporter
There was tension when a fire incident at one of the county offices premises in Kilifi town brought the town to a standstill as residents rushed to the scene to witness its magnitude.
Witnesses recounted of a huge black smoke that filled the air from the department of Water and Environment and they initially suspected that the offices had caught fire.
Said Mghala said that he saw the smoke and rushed to the scene and found a consignment of used car tyres and plastics on fire and suspected that the officers might have been burning harmful materials in a densely residential area.
βI saw a huge black smoke and thought that it was a house on fire and when I rushed here, I found out that it was a dumpsite inside a government compound,β he said.
He accused the department of environment of arresting those who burn dirt and other materials in their compounds within the town yet its officers were burning harmful materials in a residential area.
βI am shocked that county government officers and specifically the water and environment department can burn tyres and other harmful material in this densely populated area yet when a resident tries to burn small dirt in his compound he is immediately arrested and charged,β he said.
However, the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Water and Environment Omar Said said that the cause of the fire was being investigated and regrated the incident that almost burned down his office.
βWe were in a board meeting at my office when we realized a fire incident within the compound and when we rushed out, we found the tyres behind my office on fire. I immediately called by colleague from the Roads department who responded swiftly by dispatching a fire engine and the fire was contained,β he said.
He added that he was in a board meeting when suddenly those in attendance started rushing towards the door shouting that the office had caught fire.
βI take this opportunity to apologize to members of the public for the fire incident and we promise them that their safety comes first. Investigations have been launched to unravel the cause of the fire,β he added.
The incident took place just behind Omarβs office raising questions on how such a mistake could happen in a government office.
The CECM for Public Works, Roads and Transport Catherine Kenga said that she received a distress call from her water and environment colleague and within four minutes, she had dispatched fire engines to contain the fire.
She allayed fears that the fumes from the burning tyres, plastics and other unknown material could harm residents saying that investigations had been launched to ascertain the cause of the fire and possible dangers to the health of neighbors.
βWe want to tell our people that this is an unfortunate incident but we responded in exactly ten minutes and managed to put out the fierce fire. My department is very much prepared for fire disasters whenever and wherever they will happen within Kilifi county boundaries,β she said.
