Counties Animals killed, vegetation destroyed as fire consumes Mt Kenya park By Alex Njeru More by this Author Summary Efforts to put out the inferno, which was noticed on Saturday, was ongoing. The fire, which started on the park section, had consumed a large section of the forest. A wild fire has destroyed vegetation and killed animals in Mount Kenya National Park. Mr Isaac Mugo, the park’s senior warden said on Tuesday that efforts to put out the inferno, which was noticed on Saturday, was ongoing. He said officers from Kenya Forest Service and Community Forest Association were fighting to put out the fire that had consumed huge tracks of vegetation. He said the fire was spreading fast due to the strong winds. “We have been battling the fire, which is spreading so fast due to strong winds, using two choppers and hand pumps.,” said Mr Mugo. Mr Mugo called on more stakeholders to support them in putting out the inferno which is suspected to have been caused either by honey harvesters or poachers. Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Forest Service officers put out fire at Mount Kenya National Park. PHOTO | ALEX NJERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP Mr Wilson Njeru who works at the Chogoria-Kinondoni Lodge-Lake Ellis route, said there would be a drop in business since tourists would avoid the route. “Whenever there is fire outbreak on Tharaka-Nithi County side, tourists use Silmon and Naromoru routes to climb the mountain,” said Mr Njeru. He said apart from destroying vegetation and killing wildlife, other animals flee to other sections of the park until the vegetation grows again. The government spends millions of shillings fighting frequent forest fires in Mount Kenya National Park. The fires are sometimes started by intruders for superstitious reasons, including beliefs that they would trigger rainfall. The rugged terrains and impassable roads often make it difficult for firefighters to extinguish the wild fires.<doc-sep>Wildlife rangers and Kenyan soldiers are battling to stem fierce wildfires on Mount Kenya national park, around 190 kilometers (118 miles) northeast of Kenya's capital, Nairobi. More than 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres) of forest land has been destroyed at the World Heritage site since the fires broke out a week ago. Kenya's Wildlife Service (KWS), the government agency responsible for national parks, said in a statement on Saturday that it had "made good progress" in containing the fires. However, it noted reports of fresh outbreaks. Read more: Kenyan court delays decision on homosexuality Other officials on the ground said the fires are still spreading at an alarming rate, and that firefighters faced challenges containing them due to high temperatures and changing wind direction. Army called in Kenya's Forest Service (KDS) said 490 troops had been deployed to the worst-affected areas. The Mount Kenya Trust charity said on Friday that hundreds of community members and volunteers backed up by an airplane dropping water had joined rangers and soldiers to beat out the fires. Responders have struggled to contain the fires due to wind and dry conditions in the region In a tweet, the trust described how a crop duster plane had extinguished three fire lines on Saturday, while teams had been conveyed by helicopter to the site of two other fires on the upper moorlands. The charity has raised $16,000 (€14,000) so far in a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the air support. Read more: Autopsy finds Kenyan activist died during abortion attempt Row over who's to blame Some local media reports blamed the fire on farmers clearing the area to plant illegal marijuana. The Nation newspaper cited MP Kareke Mbiuki (Maara) as calling for strict measures to keep "criminals" out of the national park. Other officials have blamed local honey gatherers and residents who burned grass to kill ticks. The Nairobi-based Intergovernmental Authority on Development's Climate Predictions and Applications Centre tweeted a satellite video graphic of the wild fire's spread. Flames still visible Plumes of smoke continued to be seen rising from the park on Saturday with large flames still visible among the vegetation and natural bamboo forest. Above, Africa's second highest after Kilimanjaro in Tanzania remained covered in ice and snow patches. The national park, with a 5,199-meter (17,057-foot) high peak at its center, straddles the equator and is a key habitat for wild animals. The mountain is the main catchment area for the country's two main rivers. Read more: Internet access: How rural Kenya is keeping pace British adventurer Charlie Mayhew, who runs the elephant conservation charity Tusk, tweeted that his organization had already sent $10,000 in emergency funds to prevent the fire's spreading further. He appealed for more donations. Mount Kenya was hit by a similar fire at the same time last year following a prolonged drought. Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.<doc-sep>
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the fire began last Saturday and estimated that more than 80,000 hectares in the area had been destroyed. NANYUKI - Wildlife rangers, soldiers and huge teams of volunteers fought on Friday to stem a fierce forest fire raging on Mount Kenya national park for nearly a week. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the government force in charge of national parks, said the fire began last Saturday, and estimated that more than 80,000 hectares around the wider Mount Kenya region had been destroyed. “We have made good progress in containing the Mt Kenya fire,” KWS said in a statement, but noted reports of fresh outbreaks. Helicopters flew shuttle runs to support the volunteers doing the dangerous work in the forest to stop the blaze. Others made giant water drops to stem the fire. Above the plumes of smoke, the peak of the mountain - at 5,199 metres, or 17,057 feet high, Africa’s second highest after Kilimanjaro in Tanzania - was covered in ice and snow patches. Firefighters included KWS rangers, as well as the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the army, the Kenya Defence Force (KDF). “Hundreds of community members, volunteers, KWS and KFS rangers and the KDF teams currently are on the mountain clearing fire breaks and beating out fires,” the Mount Kenya Trust, a body set up to conserve the forests said on Friday. The park, with the peak at its centre, straddles the equator, lying some 193 kilometres north-east of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1997 by the United Nations, which lists climate change as being “probably one of the most serious long-term threats to the site.”