Afya Centre nearly brought down by burning cigarette butt

By PKEMOI NG’ENOH

Smokers who ‘suffocate’ cigarette butts on the ground with the heel of their angled boots do it for a very smokeless reason.

A burning cigarette butt ignited fire from garbage collection point and nearly threw Nairobians in Afya Centre into panic.

Touts behind Afya Centre alerted security guards to the huge smoke before it spread to other floors of the building as passersby milled around, Westgate style.

A security guard told The Nairobian that the small fire which they contained with fire extinguishers and water may have been caused by cigarette butt thrown into a dust bin by workers.

Taxi operator Mike Mwai said: “What could have happened had the fire spread to other floors or came in contact with electric cables…”