Murang'a — Property of unknown value was destroyed after a business building caught fire in Kenol town, Murang'a County.

The incident which occurred on Monday night at around 9:30 pm left scores of traders counting losses after the inferno consumed their merchandise.

Jane Wairimu, who witnessed the fire incident, told KNA that at around 9:30 pm they saw a dark cloud of smoke coming out of the building when she was walking home.

"I saw huge flames on the building that quickly spread to the electricity pole that was nearby," said Wairimu adding that she alerted the residents of the ongoing fire by screaming.

The residents of Kenol town took to social media to attract the attention of the nearest fire station in the area in order to put off the fire.

The firefighters responded by arriving at the scene shortly after being alerted of the raging ongoing fire. The fire burned for almost an hour despite the efforts of the fire fighter to put it off.

Kenya Power officials arrived at the scene and switched off the power supply causing a total black out in the area.

"I heard a huge explosion at around 10 pm and everyone ran away. The firefighters arrived after a while but they had to wait for Kenya power to come and switch off the electricity," narrated Paul Kimani one of the traders who stores his goods in the building.

A section of the residents faulted Kenya power for not arriving on the scene sooner while others praised efforts for both Kenya Power and the fire fighters.

The firefighters were able to put out the fire in the building which comprised of a hotel, salon and a big second-hand clothes stores which caught fire.

The cause of the fire is yet to be disclosed by the area OCPD but no human casualty has been reported yet. - Kna