On the evening of Friday, February 21, 2025, a fire erupted on the grounds of Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), casting a pall over the bustling hub. The blaze ignited around 6:30 pm along the airport’s perimeter fence near 75 Airport North Road, sending plumes of smoke into the sky and causing alarm among travelers and staff.
Emergency response teams, including the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Service, the Kenya Defence Forces, and the Nairobi County Fire Unit, swiftly mobilized to contain the inferno. Despite their prompt action, the fire raged for several hours before being fully subdued by approximately 10:00 pm.
Miraculously, the fire did not encroach upon the airport’s critical infrastructure, allowing flight operations to continue without disruption. The KAA reassured the public, stating, “All airport activities, including flight schedules, passenger processing, and cargo handling, remain fully operational and unaffected.”
Preliminary investigations suggest that the blaze may have been sparked by a discarded cigarette butt igniting the dry grassland. Authorities have since launched a thorough probe to determine the exact cause and prevent future incidents.
This incident adds to a series of fire-related events at JKIA in recent years. Notably, in March 2024, an electrical fault led to a fire at Terminal 1E, temporarily disrupting operations. Earlier, in August 2013, a massive blaze destroyed the international arrivals hall, leading to a complete shutdown of the airport.
