THE Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) has successfully extinguished the fire that erupted on Mount Kilimanjaro this month.
A statement issued by the conservation agency said a total of 134 firefighters, comprising also of rangers from the paramilitary unit, were deployed to put out the fire that ravaged part of the Kilimanjaro National Park (KINAPA) at Indonet-Rongai area, in Rombo District.
Signed by agency’s Senior Conservation Officer in Charge of Communications, Catherine Mbena, the statement further detailed that the raze had been fully contained, with no casualties reported so far.
“We are yet to establish the real cause of the fire, but the good news is that no one has been hurt and tourism activities unaffected,” she explained.
Mbena further assured Tanzanians and other mountaineers that the conservation agency was closely monitoring the situation on Africa’s highest peak. 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. Nonetheless, fire incidences have become a common occurrence down its slopes.
In October last year, fire broke out at Karanga site used by climbers ascending the famous peak, at about 4,000 metres altitude on its south side. Hundreds of people including firefighters, national park staff and civilians were mobilised to fight the flames that were fanned by a strong wind.
Three years ago, a raging fire that erupted on Mount Kilimanjaro razed down 12 huts and two solar panels at Horombo hut, located 3,720 metres above mean sea level.
TANAPA said then, that the inferno could have been caused by a cigarette butt, dropped and abandoned by one of the porters accompanying tourists up the mountain.
Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, about 4,900 metres from its base, and 5,895 metres above sea level, making it one of the seven summits.
Rising majestically above the African plains, the 19,341-feet mountain has beckoned to climbers since the first recorded summit in 1889. It is one of the continent’s magnificent sights and has three main volcanic peaks; Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira
Source: Nam News Network