Fire razes 16,000 acres of Mt Kenya Forest moorland

More than 16,000 acres of Mt Kenya Forest moorland have been destroyed by a fire that broke out on Saturday.

Conservationists estimate that the destruction could be worse, as the fire was still raging on Thursday.

According to Mt Kenya Trust Executive Officer Susie Weeks, the fire has devoured the moorland in Marania, Karuri and Rutundu sections of the mountain in Meru County.

Mt Kenya Trust is a non-governmental organisation that focuses on conservation of the mountain.

In the Marania section alone, more than 6,000 acres of grassland and moorland as well as sections of indigenous forest have been affected.

A spot check by the Nation established that the fire was still advancing up the mountain, overwhelming firefighters who have been battling the inferno since Sunday.

In Marania, a stretch of more than 10 kilometres up the mountain had been razed by Thursday.

A herd of zebras could be seen in the razed swathes of the mountain, indicating that wildlife had been severely affected.

Marania Forest Station Manager Phineas Lewa termed the fires a threat to the world heritage site.

The fire, which was spotted near the Kenya School of Adventure along Rutundu road on Saturday, is believed to have been started by illegal honey harvesters.

“Due to the expansive area, illegal honey harvesters find their way here. The honey is found on rocks. We had managed to control the fire by Monday but it keeps spreading,” Mr Lewa said.

The fire has been aggravated by the dry and hot weather as well as strong winds blowing in the mountain region.

Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Meru Ecosystem Conservator John Njoroge said the fire line had covered more than 15 kilometres, posing a big challenge to efforts to put it out.

In a statement, Ms Weeks said teams from the Kenya Wildlife Service, KFS, Mount Kenya Trust and Rhino Ark had been battling occasional fires in the Aberdares and Mount Kenya since the beginning of February.

“The joint teams in Mt Kenya have won the battle in three separate areas to date. But after putting out what we hoped was the last big fire in the Sirimon area on March 19, new fires emerged from the Marania forest moorland area. Nine separate fire lines were recorded in our recce on March 21. It’s clear that fires are being deliberately lit,” Ms Weeks stated.

She said the latest fire started north west of Rutundu two days ago.

More than 300 people including some Community Forest Association members have been fighting fires daily for more than a week.

Currently, KDF soldiers are helping out using fire beaters and clearing the fire line to contain its spread.

“The inter-agency teams made the decision to deploy skilled pilots from Tropic Air with helicopters and buckets to assist the firefighters due to the growing severity and threats to forest areas, biodiversity and the water catchment,” Ms Weeks said.

Mr Njoroge said efforts to stop the fires were also being hampered by the difficult terrain.

Ferrying firefighters up the mountain has also posed a challenge due to poor road network and existence of many valleys.

“The fire starts spreading around 10 am when it gets hot and the winds start blowing. By this time, we must have teams on the ground. But the distance and the terrain have been impeding the efforts,” Mr Lewa said.

Ms Weeks expressed concern that the fire that broke out at the Rutundu section may spread into Chogoria area, which is difficult to access.

“The situation is out of control. The firefighters are overwhelmed because we have been handling fires in Mt Kenya and Aberdares in the last 10 days. It is an emergency,” Ms Weeks said.

In February, a fire destroyed more than 550 hectares of Aberdare Forest while two hectares were burnt down in Tumutumu Forest in Nyeri County in mid-February.

Last week, a five-hour inferno destroyed more than 70 hectares of Menengai Forest.

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