A fire burnt down at least ten shops, destroying property of unknown value on Sunday at a trading center in Rodi Kopany township in Homa Bay Town.

Confirming the incident, Kanyango location Chief Samuel Nyagwara said that the cause of the fire had not been established. Still, investigations had been launched, saying there were no casualties during the incident.

One of the affected traders, Mr Amos Okoth, said his shop, which was stocked with utensils, shoes, and mattresses, was completely burnt down.

“I was alerted of the fire and immediately l rushed to the shop but I could not save anything as the fire was so intense.” 

Traders lamented that the county firefighters arrived more than one hour later and couldn’t save the situation.

“County firefighters are stationed in Homa Bay Town and their journey to Rodi Kopany should take at most 20 minutes but they arrived an hour later.”

Mr Okoth said that when the firefighters arrived, the property in the buildings that had caught fire had already been reduced to ashes.