Kenya Power’s investigations team has ruled out an electrical fault as the genesis of a fire tragedy at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County that claimed the lives of 21 pupils.
In a statement to newsrooms on Tuesday, September 10, the monopoly firm revealed that its team in Nyeri cut off the power supply to the school the moment the fire broke out, a precautionary measure meant for handling fire incidences which arguably, had it not been taken, would have resulted in more casualties.
Afterwards, Kenya Power immediately mobilised a technical team to visit the school and carry out
preliminary analysis of the affected site.
The team found that the line supplying the school is a low-voltage line from the Mweiga substation. At the time when the fire incident occurred, supply was stable on the particular line with no reported incidences.
Scene at Hillside Endarasha Academy following a fire tragedy on September 6, 2024. /MACHARIA WANGUI
“All Kenya Power installations including the meter, supply cable, earthings, low voltage and high tension fuses, and the transformer were intact,” the company stated.
“The fire did not affect two prepaid meters located within the larger school’s complex. This was the case for all other adjacent customers supplied by the same transformer.”
The utility firm concluded that there was no link between faults on its network and the cause of the fire, effectively denying that it had played a significant part in causing the inferno.
“Based on the findings of the preliminary analysis of our protection system, from the meter box to the substation where the medium voltage line serving the school emanates from, we have ascertained there was no link between the cause of the fire and any fault on our network as alleged in sections of media reports,” added Kenya Power.
Nonetheless, it said that it will continue to work collaboratively with other investigating agencies to establish the real cause of the fire.
Kenya Power was forced to issue clarity after a section of internet users claimed the fire at Hillside Endarasha could have been linked to an electric fault.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the affected families during this difficult time, and we wish a quick recovery to all the children who were affected by this incident,” added the statement.
Meanwhile the government, through Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura, maintained that the government was keen on establishing the cause of the fire incident, which has received global attention.
On Monday, September 9, President William Ruto tasked the Ministry of Interior to see to it that security agencies expedite investigations into the Hillside tragedy, as well as other fires that erupted in other schools after the tragedy.
More to follow…