Yesterday was a black Sunday for the residents of a block of flats near Ridgeways Mall on Kiambu Road after one of them died in an early morning fire.
However, prompt action by firefighters saved the other occupants. Some of them escaped with injuries.
Property worth millions of shillings was destroyed.
The deceased lived with her daughter in a two-bedroom flat. The daughter, who did not disclose her name, had gone to work. She came back to the sad news of her mother's death.
Nothing was saved in her flat.
Many other occupants lost properties of undetermined value.
Simon Komo, an employee of A-Plus Motors, told the Star: “I saw the fire from where I work and the first thing I did was to alert the G4S guards at the gate. I also called the fire brigade in Nairobi.”
He added: "Most of the residents were asleep and when the firemen arrived at 9.10am we broke into the houses and forced them out. ”
Komo said the fire spread fast from the ceiling, forcing the firemen to partly destroy the roof.
The G4S guards and the caretaker said the fire started at 8.35am. The building belongs to a Kiambu politician.
“We got the alarm at around 8.50 am and released three trucks. We also found a G4S track and a number of ambulances on the scene. The response was on time and we saved lives. Many people were sleeping and had locked their doors from inside,” Nairobi County Fire Station master Johnson Mwangi told the Star.
“We ask God to give strength to those affected,” the fire station master said.
He explained that they did not experience any challenges and the coordination from the emergency team was good.
Those who spoke to the Star did not want to be named. Some said they did not want other people to know where they live.
