A dormitory and nine classrooms were destroyed in a fire at Kisumu Boys’ High School on Saturday morning.
Kisumu Deputy County Commissioner, Mr Hussein Alason Hussein, said the cause of the fire which started 8.30am is yet to be established.
“Fortunately, there were no casualties as the students had just taken their breakfast and were yet to start their morning preps,” he said shortly after the fire was contained.
Me Hussein said investigations had been launched to establish the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage.
The school Principal, Duncan Owiye, said they managed to safely evacuate the 1,500 students to the playing ground before calling the fire fighters to contain the mysterious fire.
“From the dormitory, the wild fire fast spread on the rooftop of the adjacent buildings and badly damaged the structures and some of the furniture and bedding,” he said.
The fire is reported to have started from a dormitory with a capacity of 100 students, according to Mr Owiye.
It took a combined effort of fire fighters from Kisumu County, Kenya Airports Authority, Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Limited and members of the community to put off the fire.
Kisumu City Manager Abala Wanga said the county firefighters exhausted their water before rushing to the nearby water hydrant to refill.
Kisumu Central MP-elect Joshua Oron who was among the first people to respond to the distress call thanked members of the community for taking part in safeguarding the property and personal belongings of the students.
“This enabled them to get to hard to reach areas which could not easily be reached by the fire engines,” he said.
The news saw some anxious parents flocking the school to establish the status of their children.
The school principal, however, said that members of the executive board will met and determine whether the school will be closed or device ways of coping amidst the destruction and loss of personal belongings by some students. BY DAILY NATION