Fire destroys 10 shops in Rodi Kopany township, Homa Bay

 

A resident looks at the shops razed down by fire in Rodi Township in Homa Bay County.

Property of unknown value was destroyed in Rodi Kopany township in Homa Bay after fire broke out at the trading centre Sunday morning.

Witnesses said the fire spread rapidly gutting down at least 10 shops.

Kanyango location Chief Samuel Nyagwara said that the cause of the fire had not been established but investigations had been launched. Thus, confirming that there were no casualties during the incident.

Amos Okoth, one of the affected traders, said his shop which was stocked with utensils, shoes and mattresses was completely burnt down.

"I was alerted of the fire and immediately  rushed to the shop but I could not save anything for the fire was so intense," he said.

Traders lamented that the county fire fighters arrived more than one hour later and couldn't save the situation.

"County firefighters are stationed in Homa Bay Town and their journey to Rodi Kopany should take at most 20 minutes but they arrived an hour later," a trader said.

Okoth said that the property in buildings that caught fire had already been reduced to ashes when the firefighters arrived.

"If they had arrived earlier, some people would have saved their property," Okoth said.

He added that the fire fighters also ran out of water before the fire was contained.

by KNA