Property of unknown value went up in smoke when a night fire gutted a dormitory at Kieganguru Girls’ High School in Maara Constituency, Tharaka Nithi County.
School officials on Tuesday told The Standard that the fire broke out at 8pm on Monday as students were attending their evening preps.
School Principal Ms Elizabeth Mugambi said the fire completely destroyed the building that hosted form four students, but it was contained before spreading to the neighboring dormitories.
The blaze was first noticed by some students who raised alarm, alerting the watchman and the school support staff.
“We heard screams from the school and we thought the girls have gone on strike. We rushed to see what was happening and we found a huge fire,” a neighbor Juster Wanja said.
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She said the efforts to salvage most of the items went futile as the county fire rescue team arrived too late.
“Their effort to salvage their belongings failed as the fire was massive, we couldn’t get a call through to the fire brigade,” she said.
Maara OCPD John Njihia said the entire dormitory was burnt down and that they were investigating the cause of the fire.
He said parents should not panic because their daughters are safe and no one was injured.
The school's board of management held a meeting at the school compound to decide the fate of the affected students who were forced to share beds with their friends in other dormitories.
The police boss urged the county administration to place strategic fire rescue centers in every sub-county rather than relying on the only fire engine that is usually based in Chuka town.
