Tea farm goes up in flames

A farmer in Nyeri’s Itiati village, Mathira constituency is counting losses after fire reduced his three-acre tea farm to ashes Wednesday, October 19 evening.

According to the residents, the fire started when a casual laborer could not control fire from spreading from the dry bushes that he was burning.

Karatina Fire fighters and Itiati residents spent about three hours trying to extinguish the fire that could have otherwise spread to the nearby farms.

The fire is estimated to have cost the farmer Ksh 1 million.

“We could have put out the fire sooner if we had enough water supply,” one of the residents said.

The residents further said that they were forced to walk for several kilometers to fetch the water.

Mathira businessman, Francis Ngatia, the owner of the farm, was away during the incident.

Written by Lucy Akinyi