The fire that scorched the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, for more than twenty-four hours was largely “under control” Sunday, October 23, the Tanzanian authorities announced.
The fire broke out on Friday evening near the Karanga camp, a stopover for hikers and mountaineers located at around 4,000 meters above sea level on one of the busiest ascent routes leading to the “Roof of Africa” (5,895 meters).
” To a large extent, [l’incendie] is already extinct in most areas, although there are still fumaroles”, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Eliamani Sedoyeka, first said on Sunday morning. In the early evening, the ministry announced in a press release that the fire had been controlled at several other points. “The situation is generally under control, we believe that it will be completely under control over time”he assured.
About 500 people mobilized, including civilians
The fire did not cause any casualties in this tourist hotspot in northeastern Tanzania, which is particularly popular with trekking and mountaineering enthusiasts. Several tens of thousands of people climb its slopes each year. A total of 500 people – firefighters, staff from the national parks authority (Tanapa), police and civilians – mobilized to fight the fire, which had been fanned by a strong wind.
Videos circulating on social media on Saturday showed wide flames devouring vegetation of bushes and shrubs and releasing thick plumes of gray smoke. In particular, the firefighters succeeded in preventing the flames from reaching the forest area below.
If the origin of the fire has not yet been formally identified, Mr. Sedoyeka estimated on Saturday evening that“it is possible that a climber or honey collectors caused the fire by negligence”. An official from the National Parks Authority (Tanapa), Herman Batiho, claimed to be “sure that it is due to human activities, perhaps the extraction of honey by locals or (…) poachers”.
Two years after a fire that had ravaged 95 km2
This fire comes exactly two years after a fire which had ravaged, in October 2020, for a week, 95 km2 slopes, with no casualties. According to the first elements of the investigation at the time, the fire had been caused by porters who accompanied climbers.
An emblematic mountain whose snow-capped peak is known throughout the world, Kilimanjaro and the area surrounding it are classified as a national park, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With a total area of more than 75,000 hectares (more than 750 km2), the park is home to a remarkable ecosystem, with a rich flora and fauna composed of elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, etc.
This volcanic massif made up of three peaks (Kibo, Mawenzi, Shira) is not immune to global warming, which in particular dries out its vegetation, composed successively of plains, mountain forest then high moorland, before an alpine desert and the Mountain peak. The “Snows of Kilimanjaro” celebrated by Ernest Hemingway could even disappear by 2040, according to a 2011 report by the World Meteorological Organization, the UN’s weather agency, on Africa’s climate situation. The area covered by glaciers has shrunk by 85% in a century, from 11.40 km2 in 1912 at 1.76 km2 in 2011.