The Kiambu County government is building a fire fighting training center to equip their staff with better skills. The academy, which is being put up in the Indian bazaar area, will cost sh21 million and will be completed and operational by January 2020.
Construction and refurbishment work is still ongoing and almost complete. If it goes as expected, the academy will start training new students from January 2020 according to the Kiambu County fire officer, Mr. Samuel Kahura.
The Kiambu fire fighting academy building structures will however not be new construction. It is being set up on an existing facility that belongs to the Kiambu County Government. And being refurbished by the county government in collaboration with the Polish Centre for International Aid from last year.
Once complete, the Kiambu will become the first county in Kenya to run a firefighting training academy. This will make a big impact on the county and will improve the fire-fighting skills of the personnel based in the four major sub-county stations located in Limuru, Ruiru, Thika, and Kiambu.
The County Fire Officer says that the stations have been very effective and this will further improve their services and enable them to handle fire incidences much faster and efficiently. Currently, the stations have a total of 85 firefighters. This is a small number considering that they provide services for 24 hours a day. Despite the lean team, the firefighters have always attended to fire issues promptly and successfully.
The shortage of enough qualified staff means that the available firefighters have to work longer hours. But it is expected that once the academy starts operations, there will be enough workforce.
Kiambu academy to train firefighters from other counties in Kenya
The collaboration between the Kiambu government and the Polish Centre for International Aid benefited the county by training some of the firefighters in Poland. The partnership has also provided training to firefighters from other counties outside Kiambu.
Upon completion, the Kiambu firefighting training center will reduce the cost of training new students as well as improving the skills of existing professionals. If you are interested in starting a career in public service, you can visit this page for more information.