Bishop: Comply with dormitory safety rules to curb fire deaths

The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) has called on schools with boarding facilities to ensure compliance with safety regulations to avert tragedies like the fire incident at Hillside Endarasha Academy that let 21 pupils dead and more than 60 still missing.

Nakuru Diocese Bishop Anthony Mambo called for regular and mandatory inspections of all boarding schools to ensure compliance with safety standards and enhanced safety regulations.

While decrying the deaths which he termed avoidable, Mambo said dormitories should have emergency exits incase of unforeseen eventualities.

“Schools should have risk management committees, complete with experts in disaster management, fire marshals and first-aiders,” he said.

Speaking during the Diocese’s Annual Choir Festival that brought together 33 choirs at the ACK Jehovah Shammah Prayer Centre, he urged the government to introduce a policy guides for construction of school buildings.

“Dorms must be fitted with fire extinguishers, they should have fire escape structures but some schools have reinforced their doors and windows with metal grills making the facilities death traps in cases of fire,” he said.

Boarding schools in Kenya have a long and tragic history of deadly incidents with the worst being St Kizito Secondary School in Meru and Kyanguli Boys High School in Machakos where 67 boys perished.

After the Endarasha incident, several other schools have had fire incidents, among them Isiolo Girls, Njia High, Bukhalarire Secondary, Busia and Isiolo Boys. Bishop Mambo appealed to the government to adopt recommendations of various task forces that have investigated the school fires and formulate policies to avoid recurrence.