When the Flames Die Down: A Community’s Journey Through Grief and Healing After the Utumishi Fire

The night the fire tore through a dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, it took sixteen young lives and left seventy-nine others injured. Seven students were hospitalised for further treatment, and several of the most critically hurt were evacuated to Kenyatta National Hospital for specialised care. But beyond the burns and the body count, the fire left something harder to measure, invisible wounds etched into the minds of survivors, families, teachers, and everyone who ran toward the smoke that night.

In the early morning hours that followed, the question being asked quietly across the school compound and in hospital corridors was not just about physical recovery. It was about what comes next for a child who keeps reliving the flames. For a parent standing helpless at a hospital bed. For a teacher who cannot stop replaying what she saw.

The response to that question came swiftly. Under the leadership of County Director of Public Health Ms Elizabeth Kiptoo and supported by County Mental Health Coordinator Ms Lydia Nyaga, Gilgil Sub-County Team Lead Mr Samuel Kimani, and Gilgil-based Psychiatrist Dr Mirriam, a multidisciplinary mental health and psychosocial support team was deployed to the school and to the hospital where the injured had been taken. 

Amref Health Africa’s Project THRIVE and Kenya’s Mental Health Program joined the response, represented by Daniel Kimemia, Steve Biko, Bryson Sifuma, Billian Sawenja, and Bill Olwenda. The Principal Secretary for the State Department of Public Health, Ms Mary Muthoni, later visited the school and was received by Ms Kiptoo, where partners shared coordinated plans for the road ahead.

“Tragedies like the Utumishi fire often leave invisible wounds,” said Ms Kiptoo. “Integrating mental health and psychosocial support into emergency response is critical to ensuring comprehensive recovery and building resilience among affected individuals and communities. We are grateful to Amref Health Africa for enabling the swift deployment of mental health professionals to support affected individuals and families.”

The team’s immediate interventions centred on Psychological First Aid, creating calm, structured spaces where survivors could begin to process shock, grief, and fear without being rushed. Safe spaces were opened for dialogue, allowing affected individuals to unburden painful memories and receive emotional support. Learners and staff requiring more specialised mental health attention were identified and triaged. Critically, the team did not limit its focus to students alone. Debrief sessions were held for emergency responders and caregivers, people who had witnessed the devastation firsthand and were carrying their own emotional weight.

“Thrown into a turmoil of confusion, shock, uncertainty, anxiety and grief, the first line responders and survivors deserved to be stabilised emotionally first, then connected those who required additional support to appropriate services,” explained Charles Musambai, Kenya  Counselling and Psychological Association (KCPA), who was part of the response.

Ms Lydia Nyaga, the County Mental Health Coordinator, was unequivocal about the costs of delays in this kind of care. Emergencies affect both physical and mental wellbeing, she noted, and when the mental dimension is left unaddressed, the damage can be equally devastating and far more enduring. “Early intervention is crucial in preventing long-term mental health issues. By providing immediate psychosocial support, we help individuals regain a sense of safety, reduce distress and strengthen their ability to cope with adversity,” she said.

For the families waiting in uncertainty, the presence of counsellors made a tangible difference. Grace Njeri, a parent whose daughter survived the fire, described the disorientation of those first hours, watching her child flinch at sounds, relive scenes that no teenager should carry. “After the fire, my daughter was terrified and kept reliving what had happened. As a parent, I felt helpless,” she said. “The counsellors took time to listen, helped us understand that our reactions were normal, encouraged us and reminded us that we were not alone. The support gave us hope and helped her feel safe again.”

The work does not end with the acute phase. Teams from Kamili and Mathari Hospital have confirmed their involvement in follow-up care, and a structured plan is taking shape. Bereavement support will be extended to the families of the sixteen students who did not survive. Specialised psychiatric and psychological care will be made more accessible to those affected in the weeks and months ahead. The school will be supported in developing a long-term psychosocial recovery plan, and targeted mental health awareness and substance use prevention interventions will address emerging concerns about drug and substance abuse among learners, a pattern that often surfaces in the wake of acute trauma.

What the Utumishi response demonstrates is both a model and an argument: that mental health cannot be an afterthought in emergency response, something addressed once the physical crisis has passed. It must arrive with the ambulances, alongside the firefighters, in the same breath as food and shelter. The lives lost in that dormitory cannot be recovered. But for the hundreds of students, teachers, and families left to navigate what comes after, timely, coordinated psychosocial care may be the difference between a community that fragments under grief and one that, slowly, finds its way back to each other.

Author: Billian Sawenja, Project Officer, Project Thrive, Amref Health Africa in Kenya