The County Government of Uasin Gishu has enhanced its emergency response unit, especially at this time that the region is at the peak of a dry spell.
Dry spell season in Uasin Gishu and the North Rift region is usually between November and April.
County’s Roads, Transport, and Public Works Chief Officer Julius Rotich says the Fire Department is well equipped to handle any kind of emergencies.
Rotich notes that they have already been able to successfully handle fire incidences within the county and neighboring areas.
“We can’t boast that we are the best but we can say that we have very good equipment and we have been responding very well to emergencies,” said the Chief Officer.
He points out that they have been able to respond to various emergencies not only in Uasin Gishu but also in neighboring counties of Nandi, Elgeyo Marakwet, Trans Nzoia, Baringo, and West Pokot.
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Since the onset of the dry spell, the Uasin Gishu Fire Department has been responding to between one and three fire incidences every day.
“We are very well prepared, all machines are up and running to respond to emergencies. We have an emergency or two every day – from road accidents to fire incidences in the house or fields. This dry spell, we get up to three fire incidences every day,” said Rotich.
The most recent incident was reported in the Langas area where the County Fire Department in collaboration with the Kenya Pipeline and Kenya Airports Authority managed to contain within 30 minutes.
Rotich says had the fire not been contained quickly enough, it would have spread to the densely populated areas in Langas, causing a lot of losses.
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Currently, the County Government has three fire stations – one at the Eldoret CBD, another one in Maili Nne estate, and the third one is at Burnt Forest Township.
All the stations are well equipped, with the Fire Department having 53 trained firefighters.
The Department also has acquired five (5) fire engines, two (2) rapid intervention vehicles, two (2) ambulances, three (3) water bowsers, one (1) turntable ladder, a rescue van, a trolley, and a fire fighting foam vehicle.
County Executive Committee Member for Roads, Transport, Energy and Public Works Eng. Gideon Birir says the availability of the three water bowser trucks has enabled adequate water supply whenever an incident occurs.
