A dormitory at Moi Girls’ High School in Nairobi was gutted by fire on Monday evening, marking a concerning incident in the early days of the 2025 academic calendar.
While the fire caused significant damage, all students have been accounted for, and no casualties have been reported from the Monday, January 20, 2025 incident.
According to preliminary reports by the Kenya Red Cross, the fire broke out in one of the school’s buildings.
The Nairobi City County fire brigade responded promptly and successfully contained the situation. However, the cause of the blaze is yet to be established.
In response to the disaster, the Kenya Red Cross has stepped in to provide immediate aid. The organization announced it will deliver 200 mattresses, 400 blankets, and 200 dignity kits to affected students by Monday night.
Additionally, the organization said that it would dispatch a counselling team that will offer psychosocial support to students and staff.
“Our counseling team will be offering psychosocial support services to those affected.
“We are also providing essential supplies, including mattresses, blankets, and dignity kits, to ensure the students’ basic needs are met during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for the Kenya Red Cross stated.
The dormitory, whose capacity has yet to be confirmed, suffered extensive damage, leaving students and staff shaken. The Kenya Red Cross is currently on-site assessing the full impact of the fire.
This incident is a sombre reminder of a similar tragedy in 2017 when an arson attack at the same school claimed the lives of 10 students.
A 14-year-old student was later charged with manslaughter and sentenced to five years in jail in 2022.
This was after the court determined that the girl had lit the fire in an attempt to force her transfer to another school and was seen making desperate attempts to save some students after the plan went awry.
Days after the verdict, some parents who had lost their children in the fire said the judgment was lenient and expressed hopes that no child would ever make such a mistake again.
The girl had committed the offense at the age of 14, but by the time the case was heard in 2021, she was already an adult.
The fire at Moi Girls High School comes barely two weeks after schools reopened on January 6 for the new academic year, raising concerns about fire safety measures in learning institutions.
Authorities are expected to launch investigations into the cause of the fire to prevent future occurrences.
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