Preparedness for fire outbreak in boarding secondary schools in Nyamira County, Kenya

Background: Fire disasters in secondary schools lead to deaths and destruction of property. Consequently, there is a need to identify the causes and also evaluate the preparedness for fire outbreaks. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to investigate the causes of fire outbreak and evaluated the level of preparedness for fire outbreak in boarding secondary schools in Nyamira County, Kenya. Purposive sampling method was used to select 50 principals and 5 Sub-county educational officers from the schools. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire and key informant interview guide respectively. Results: The findings show that the main causes of fire outbreak are; arsonists (90%, n=45), electrical faults (88%, n=44), short or overloaded circuits (64%, n=32), flammable liquids (50%, n=25) and combustible materials (60%, n=30). Other causes are lighting (4%, n=8), open flames (5%, n=10) and welding extension codes (6%, n=12). As regards to the preparedness, most of the schools had dry chemical extinguishers (76%, n=38) and foam cylinders (54%, n=27) for firefighting, however over fifty percent of the respondents are unable to operate them. Majority (78%, n=39) of schools had emergency communication system, regular inspection and maintenance of firefighting equipment, existence of fire assembly plan (72%, n=36) and fire safety policy (63%, n=31). Other mitigation measure like fire insurance policy, evacuation plans and sanctions were not fully entrenched in most of the schools. Conclusion: The causes of fire outbreak can be controlled with precaution and schools are inadequately prepared for fire outbreak. We therefore recommend that the school administration to investigate on the underlying reasons for the arson attacks. In addition, the security officers to regularly unplug electrical appliances when not in use, more firefighting equipment to be installed, and schools to have a fire insurance policy and build the capacity of the teachers and education stakeholders on the evacuation plan.