A fire broke out on Monday evening, January 20, 2025, at Moi Girls’ High School in Nairobi, destroying a dormitory and marking a troubling start to the 2025 academic year.
According to preliminary reports from the Kenya Red Cross, the fire caused significant property damage but, fortunately, no casualties were reported. All students have been accounted for following the incident.
The Nairobi City County fire brigade responded promptly, managing to contain the blaze. However, the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Kenya Red Cross Responds
In the wake of the disaster, the Kenya Red Cross has stepped in to provide emergency support. The organization has pledged to deliver 200 mattresses, 400 blankets, and 200 dignity kits to affected students by Monday night.
“Our counseling team will be offering psychosocial support services to those affected,” a spokesperson for the Kenya Red Cross stated. “We are also providing essential supplies, including mattresses, blankets, and dignity kits, to ensure the students’ basic needs are met during this difficult time.”
The organization is currently on-site assessing the extent of the damage and offering additional assistance where needed.
The incident has drawn attention to fire safety protocols in schools, especially as it comes less than two weeks after the start of the academic year on January 6. Authorities are expected to investigate the cause of the fire and recommend measures to prevent future occurrences.
This is not the first fire-related tragedy at Moi Girls’ High School. In 2017, an arson attack claimed the lives of 10 students, a somber memory that continues to haunt the school community.
A then-14-year-old student was later charged with manslaughter in connection to the 2017 incident and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2022. The court found that she had lit the fire in an attempt to force a transfer to another school, a plan that went tragically wrong.
Following the 2022 verdict, some parents expressed dissatisfaction, calling the sentence lenient, while hoping such incidents would never be repeated.
Moving Forward
The latest fire at Moi Girls’ High School serves as a stark reminder of the need for enhanced fire safety measures in learning institutions. Stakeholders in the education sector are expected to take this incident as a call to action to ensure the safety and well-being of students across the country.
