Firefighting services in Kilifi County have been boosted by the launch of a modern fire station at a cost of Ksh. 125 million in a partnership programme with the World Bank.
In the project that sits on a one acre piece of land in Kilifi town, the World Bank invested a grant of Ksh. 96 million while the County government pumped Ksh. 29 million in the project.
The County has also procured four fire engines that will be distributed to Watamu and Mtwapa municipalities.
While launching the projects on Monday, Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro assured residents that he will strive to ensure that response to disasters and emergencies within the county was swift and well-coordinated to save lives and property.
“Kilifi has had several fire incidents and the response has been poor due to malfunctioned firefighting equipment and we will also purchase rescue boats to respond to disasters at sea,” he said.
He added that some areas in the county such as Watamu have been experiencing fire disasters that have led to loss of lives and property worth millions of shillings after the then available fire engines failed to operate.
“This financial year we have procured four fire engines and in the next financial year we will purchase another four so that we have a swift response to disasters,” he said.
The move by the governor to launch the fire services was welcomed by residents who said that it was long overdue and that the engines will go a long way in saving lives and property.
Led by Stanley Ibrahim and Sanita Wanje, the residents appealed to the county government to recruit and train on fire services in areas where the engines will be stationed.
“Previously, we have been faced with disasters but the response was very poor due to delay in arrival at the scene and fire engines breaking down but with this property and the four fire engines, we are confident that response to disasters will be swift,” said Ibrahim.
Wanje lauded the County government saying that the facility together with the four new engines will also create employment to the local youth.
“We had a fire incident just near here but the response was poor and people lost property but we are happy that we now have the fire engines and I want to urge the Governor to ensure that our youth get employed as firefighters,” she said.
The County Executive Committee Members (CECM) for the department of public works, roads and transport Catherine Kenga said that the County government will procure more fire engines so that every section of Kilifi has a disaster response team and equipment close to them.
“We have started with these four fire engines and our aim is to have each of the seven Sub Counties get at least one fire engine,” she said.
