The Monday evening fire that destroyed timber worth million in a sawmill in Naivasha has renewed questions of the county's preparedness to respond to disasters within the county.

Naivasha Sub–County Police commander Wilson Sigei says Police are treating the fire which started at 8pm as arson, adding that they have arrested one person to help in the investigation.

Rabu Sundra, Naivasha scout commissioner, lauded efforts by the Naivasha fire extinguishers getting to the scene of the incident after being notified of the fire, however, questioning the efficiency and preparedness of the team.

He notes that disaster response only counts as effective if the tragedy is limited from getting to catastrophic levels.

“The fire engine vehicles were here and efforts to suppress the fire were there. However, after the water it brought was over, that was it. We need to see the disaster management department having better coordination for response to emergencies,” he noted.

Evans Chege, the Chairman business community from Naivasha noted that it is unfortunate that a businessman has lost his source of income among other employees to this fire.

“We call upon the government to offer more support in regard to disaster response. Much of the timber in stock would have been salvaged if we had better fire containment measures,” Chege noted.

According to 2024 research by Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and The International Center for Humanitarian Affairs (ICHA) Data from the (KRCS) Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) showed that over the past 14 years, fire incidents have steadily risen in frequency, although fatalities have slightly decreased.

A heavy duty truck removing logs at a sawmill in Naivasha to prevent the fire from spreading further on the Monday night fire incident.

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/MTAA WANGU

Fires now rank second only to road traffic accidents (RTAs) in terms of occurrence, and third in fatalities after armed conflict and RTAs.

“Between 2020 and 2024, a total of 1,606 fire incidents were reported across 17 counties, with Nairobi, Nyeri, Kiambu, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Bomet experiencing the most significant impacts. These fires affected 28,000 households, resulting in 2,392 casualties, 11 missing persons, and 293 fatalities (KRCS,2024),” reads part of the report.

With Nakuru ranking highly on fire incidents the question now is how prepared the county is as far as response is concerned.

The Monday night incident comes a few months after the Utumishi Girls Academy fire tragedy that claimed 16 lives after the school dormitory caught fire.

In an interview with Mtaa Wangu Nakuru County Chief Officer for Disaster Management Joyce Ncece said some fires in Nakuru are unusually large and required assistance from multiple agencies beyond the county’s available firefighting resources.

She however noted that since the Utumish girls fire in March, the county has since made investments into getting more hydrants in areas that have frequent fires.

“The Utumishi girls' fire was an eye opener on the gaps we had to fill. We were able to contain the fire but noted areas to address. As a county we at times depend on the support of partners including, NYS, KenGen ,Timesales , flower farms, and at times neighboring counties like Nyandarua and the National government when the disaster is at a voluminous scale,” she explained.

A firefighter in an operation to put out a fire at a Timberyard in Naivasha on Monday night October 26,2026

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/MTAA WANGU

She stated that the county had several hydrants before but they were vandalized. At the moment they have four hydrants serving the county, three in Nakuru and one in Naivasha.

Additionally, she noted that five more hydrants are currently under installation in; Mai Mahui, Gilgil, Molo and Elburgon.To support fire response they are also installing water towers to act as water reservoirs of 40,000 liters’ capacity.

Ncece also posed caution to people participating in protest noting that during demos a fire engine was burned down and two vehicles supporting words to put down fires.

“We lost a huge disaster management investment in Molo. Currently we have three firefighting engines supporting the county, two in Nakuru and one in Naivasha, plans are there to acquire more to ensure swift response to emergencies,” she noted.

The question now is will Nakuru be a reactionary county or will it take necessary measures to improve its ability to respond to disasters to caution its residents from the impact of unforeseen dangers.

wanjirukinuthia20@gmail.com

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