More than 300 people have been mobilised to tackle a blaze on the slopes of Tanzania's famous Mount Kilimanjaro, local officials said Saturday, with police and local people helping firefighters.

The fire was burning near the camp Karanga site used by climbers ascending the mountain, at about 4,000 metres altitude on the south side of mountain.

Mount Kilimanjaro, situated in the northeast of the country, is Africa's highest summit at 5,895 metres (19,340 feet).

Officials have not yet established how the fire started, but it comes exactly two years after another blaze, which raged for a week in October 2020 across 95 square kilometres (37 square miles).

No one was killed in that fire and on Saturday officials said that the current blaze did not threaten any of the tourists on the mountain. Kilimanjaro is popular with both trekkers and mountain climbers.

The fire started on Friday evening and was spread by strong winds during the night, said regional officials. They could not yet say how much ground it covered.

A plane transporting local officials and leading members of the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) for a visit to evaluate the situation was unable to land on Saturday.

"Large clouds and the smoke prevented us from reaching the fire zone," the prefect of Kilimanjaro, Nurdin Babu, told journalists. "We will try again when the situation improves."

The chief of the region's police, Yahaya Mdogo, said that they were focusing on getting the fire under control and could not yet say how big it was or what impact it was having on the population.

But videos posted on social media appeared to show the flames devouring vegetation and giving off thick clouds of grey smoke.

Police, firefighters, students from the local university and even staff from tour operators were working hard to bring the blaze under control, TANAPA said in a brief statement.

Mount Kilimanjaro, with its snow-capped peak, is known around the world.

The forests surrounding it form part of a national park, and Kilimanjaro National Parks is registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, in part because many endangered species live there.

Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Easter Island blaze chars famous moai statues
Santiago (AFP) Oct 6, 2022
A forest fire that tore through part of Easter Island has charred some of its fabled monumental carved stone figures, known as moai, authorities said Thursday. "Nearly 60 hectares (148 acres) were affected, including some moai," Carolina Perez, cultural heritage undersecretary, said in a Twitter post. On Easter Island, which lies some 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) off the west coast of Chile, 100 hectares have been razed by flames since Monday, Perez said. The area around the Rano Raraku volc ... read more