Over 2,000 stalls destroyed in another Gikomba fire

About 2,000 structures were yesterday razed as a section of Gikomba Market was gutted by fire.

Traders said goods worth millions were lost in the fire, which started at around  3am.

This comes barely two months after another fire on February 6 in the same market. Most of the burnt stalls sold shoes and clothes.

Anne Wangari, a trader, said new stock of the commodities had just arrived on Monday and most of the traders had paid.

“This is a huge loss for us," she said. "How are we going to recover money to order for the next stock?" 

Nairobi's  disaster management chief officer Anne Mwenda said the fire department responded as soon as they received calls from residents.

“The fire department received the call at 3:00 am and by 3:05  firefighters were on the ground. However, it was a struggle for the fire engines to find their way to the structures because of poor access roads,” Mwenda told the Star yesterday.

There were no casualties.

“The fire was quickly contained, thanks to the Nairobi County Fire Brigade and the NYS,” Kenya Red Cross said.

Some traders, however, expressed their disappointment with the firefighters, saying they were too slow to put off the fire.

Abdul Aziz,  who is River Stage Youth Group treasurer, said the delay by the fire team led to the spread of the fire.

“When the fire engines arrived, the fire had not spread but they took a lot of time saying they could not access the source of the fire, which led to the fire becoming intense,” he said.

Fire department county director Brian Kisali had earlier said lack of access roads was among the topmost challenges experienced by the Nairobi Disaster Management Unit faces during fires outbreaks.

DOOMED MARKET

Gikomba has suffered many fires every year. Almost after every incident, investigations are launched and committees formed to probe it but no report has been publicly released yet.

Last year, the market experienced three fire cases that lead to President Uhuru Kenyatta calling for investigations in the incidents.

On November 7, a number of shops and a block near the U&I Microfinance banking Hall were destroyed in another fire.

Earlier in October, another fire occurred after the June 28 one, in which 15 people died and at least 60 injured. A section of the market dealing with timber and clothes was burnt at the time.

In 2017, the market caught fire twice on October 6 and September 10. In 2015, there were two incidents in May and on June 23. A fire broke out twice in May and October 2014, and once in  March 2012.

There have been allegations that loan defaulters at times set shops on fire and tell banks they lost property to claim insurance pay. It has also been said that some traders burn the stalls to evict tenants and charge them a higher rent

STALLED NEW GIKOMBA MARKET PLAN 

Last year in July it was reported the Nairobi county and the national government would build a new five0-storey Gikomba market to end the fire incidences.

The Sh3 billion market would have at least 525 stalls. Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko then said the designs were complete and the tender would be announced.

However, little has been heard from Sonko regarding the plan since then.

Edited by Eliud Kibii