The Nairobi County Fire engines were put to test on Monday when up to 11 fire incidents were reported at different places.
Whereas the engines responded to almost all of the scenes, they arrived at some of the areas late, igniting anger from locals.
Officials blamed poor road network and wrong directions for the late responses.
Nairobi police boss James Mugera said no injuries were reported in the incidents but property of unknown value was destroyed.
He said they suspect some of the incidents had been caused by negligence and illegal power connections.
“The incidents were a challenge but we did not record any injury. Having up to 11 incidents on a single day is not easy for the responders at large,” he said.
He said they always fear for the worst.
The incidents were reported in Mutuini, Ngei, Clay City, Umoja, Mukuru Slums and Mwemuto in Gigiri area.
In Mwemuto, a car was reduced to ashes after it caught fire on the road. The driver said he was headed home in Spring Valley area when the car stalled and caught fire.
It is not clear what caused the fire.
In the other areas, tens of structures were affected, leaving many homeless. The victims also lost their valuables.
There has been a push to construct more fire stations in the city as part of efforts to address the growing demand.
Officials say the demand is huge because of a growing population with little budgeting for the fire department.
Nairobi City County fire department at times serves neighbouring counties of Kiambu, Kajiado and Machakos.
With a population of more than four million people and 59 years after independence, Nairobi still relies on only two fire stations.
The county relies on the Khoja fire station on Tom Mboya Street, which was built in 1907, and another at Industrial Area built in 1957.
This is even as the city-county continues to suffer frequent fires, especially in the informal settlements and markets, leading to a loss worth millions of shillings.
Fire engines get their water supply from the 4,044 hydrants in Nairobi.
