- The power company, however, said it will continue to work collaboratively with other investigating agencies to establish the cause of the fire.
Image: FILE
Kenya Power has ruled out an electric fault as the cause of the fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri that resulted in the deaths of 21 boys.
“We have ascertained there was no link between the cause of the fire and any fault on our network as alleged in sections of media reports,” Kenya Power said in a statement.
The company said it mobilised a technical team to visit the school and carry out a preliminary analysis of the affected site.
The power company, however, said it will continue to work collaboratively with other investigating agencies to establish the cause of the fire.
"The line supplying the school is a low voltage line from Mweiga sub-station. At the time when the fire incident occurred, supply was stable on this line with no reported incidences," Kenya Power said.
Kenya Power said installations including the meter, supply cable, earthings, low voltage and high tension fuses, and the transformer were intact.
It further added that the fire did not affect two prepaid meters located within the larger school’s complex.
“This was the case for all other adjacent customers supplied by the same transformer.”
Kenya Power noted that the findings were based on a preliminary analysis of its protection system, from the meter box to the substation where the medium voltage line serving the school emanates from.
“As a company, electrical safety is of utmost priority in all our operations. Upon receiving the news of this fire incident, our team in Nyeri switched off the power supply to the school as a precautionary measure while handling fire incidences,” the company said.
Kenya Power said it received news of the unfortunate incident of a school fire that razed a dormitory on Friday morning.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the affected families during this difficult time, and we wish a quick recovery to all the children who were affected by this incident. May the souls of all the departed children rest in eternal peace,” it said.