KENYA SCHOOL FIRE RAISES BOARDING SAFETY QUESTIONS

A fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Kenya, killed at least 16 students and injured 79 others after breaking out in a dormitory shortly after midnight. Reuters reported that the fire burned for more than two hours, while the Associated Press said authorities were questioning surviving students and investigating possible fire-safety failures. Officials have not confirmed the cause, though early survivor accounts suggested a mattress may have been deliberately set on fire.

The disaster has quickly become more than a single-school tragedy. The Guardian reported that about 220 girls aged 15 to 18 were sleeping in the dormitory area where the fire broke out, and that some students were forced to jump from windows after being trapped on an upper floor.

Kenya has a long history of deadly school fires, often linked to crowding, poor infrastructure, student unrest, or weak emergency procedures. AP noted that previous disasters included a 2024 school fire that killed 21 students and a 2001 arson attack that killed 67. Those comparisons matter because the immediate investigation is not only about how this fire started, but whether boarding schools have learned enough from past failures.

For families, the first priority is identification, treatment, and clear information about the children affected. For Kenyan authorities, the wider test is whether the investigation leads to enforceable safety changes around dormitory access, fire alarms, evacuation routes, supervision, and emergency response. Without that, another school-fire tragedy risks becoming part of a pattern rather than a turning point.