Downtown Nairobi Fire

On January 28th, a fire broke out in a downtown supermarket called Nakumatt. Nakumatt is basically the Kenyan equivalent of Wal-Mart in that it sells virtually anything you could possibly want. There are branches all around the country in most major towns. The branch that burned down was called Nakumatt Downtown and was located on the main road in town, Kenyatta Avenue. When I watched the news on Wednesday evening, it came as a shock to me to watch this building engulfed in flames. Just 3 weeks ago Rachel and went shopping in that very store. I've shopped at that branch a few other times during my time in Nairobi. The cause of the fire is being attributed to malfunctioning electricity which resulted in a black out in the store in the minutes before the fire started.

The footage from the scene showed utter panic and fear in the eyes of many people. The building had two floors but the windows on the top floor were too small for anyone to fit through which left only one clear exit for all of the people in the store. In my experiences in that store, it was very cramped and difficult to maneuver around. Some of the employees fled to the roof of the building and then climbed down light poles with the help of people below.

Watching the footage from the scene, it was clear that there was widespread confusion. As the crowds of hundreds of people gathered at the scene, they blocked the fire vehicles trying to get to the fire. As is the case with many accidents or crime scenes in Kenya, flocks of people gather to see what is going on. People often say that when Kenyans hear gunshots, instead of running away they run towards the sound because they want to see for themselves whats going on. Many of the policemen who responded to the fire had to be used for crowd/riot control. Hundreds of people in the crowd were dangerously close to the building as containers of gas and kerosene exploded inside. The police were also worried about looting.

The first vehicle to respond to the fire was not a fire engine. Various agencies responded to the fire including Nairobi City Council, government vehicles, and private companies. Although the fire station is literally down the block from the Nakumatt, the response time was very delayed. Many cars were parked in front of the store blocking the firetrucks from even getting close to the store. The cars were physically picked up and moved by dozens of people from the crowd.

None of the firefighters at the scene had any protective equipment. With no protective equipment, no effort was made to enter the building to rescue people who remained inside.The hoses were all held by dozens of volunteers from the crowd that had gathered. The water being sprayed was being aimed at the top of the fire and not even at the base showing indications that the firefighters were grossly under trained and ill-prepared. I think the worst part of the entire fire response is that at one point, all of the trucks RAN OUT OF WATER and were unable to continue fighting the fire. They had to find a private truck that sells water to donate to the cause of trying to extinguish the fire.

Wednesday on the news, there were several reports from the scene. As the reporter wrapped up their segment from the scene hours after the fire had started, I remember the reporter stating that thankfully there were no casualties to report. The next day, the accounts from the scene were not as positive with more and more reports of missing people coming in. In the days after the fire, the number of missing people has climbed as high as 50 people.

Twenty-fours after the fire started, the fire had still not been completely extinguished. The next day, the Kenya Red Cross examined the scene and started to recover bodies. Bodies continue to be discovered in the various parts of the building. Just yesterday they discovered a mother and child in the corner on the ground floor - their bodies still holding one another.

In the days after the fire, there has been a lot of speculation about what exactly happened at the Nakumatt. From accounts of survivors and people at the scene, the exit doors were closed by some of the Managers who feared looting. When they closed those doors, they locked dozens of people inside who became victims of the fire's heat and intense smoke. The building and the merchandise all had insurance but the more than 27 lives lost in this fire cannot be replaced.

If this fire showed anything, it was that the city of Nairobi is not prepared for any sort of major disaster. One government official was interviewed at the scene and quoted as saying that they are considering developing an emergency services department for Nairobi. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure an emergency services department should have been formed decades ago especially for the third largest city in Africa; one that has also been the scene of a major terrorist attack in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in 1998. When the U.S. Embassy was bombed, it was the Israelis who organized a rescue team before the Kenyans did. The dogs from the Israeli rescue team were the ones who helped find survivors buried in the rubble. If a second fire started in a different part of Nairobi, the entire city would be crippled. In many ways the city of Nairobi has plenty of landmarks that are vulnerable to attack and this past week it has shown that it can not organize an adequate response.