Yet, another fire in Moi University ,Main Campus. Is tragedy courting us?

This evening, a student's room in my hostel caught fire. The incident, which is the first of its magnitude in my close to four years stay here, has left most students shocked and scared. While the students are sorry for their comrades whose room caught fire, the thought that it could have been any of them has blunted their emotions.

The fire incident comes in the background of another outbreak a few weeks ago in which a supermarket serving the students and villagers. Of course, in stead of students and villagers helping out, they started looting the property. But that is a story for another post.

Until this year's incidents, there were a few others in the last academic year. Most of the fires have been allegedly caused by electrical faults. But then again, that should form the the thesis of another post.

Worthy of note however is our ability to react to these accidents and prevent the occurrence of more disasters. There university has put up fire assembly points within the campus and the horse pipes are working (they are used for cleaning, daily). This, however, is not the issue.

In today's incident, it emerged that students are not prepared for such disasters. The confusion that characterized the evening, the false alarm in the other wing of the hostel, the conflicting information and such things all show that students are totally not prepared for such incidents.

Therefore, there is need to continuously carry out drill sessions and talks for the students to know what to do should this happen again, here or wherever they will be. It would be a plus to the world if unto it are given people who can skillfully deal with disasters in addition to their other skills. We can no longer rest easy and assume that somehow we will survive any disaster. Such complacency with ignorance can lead fatal endings to already tragic stories.