Monday, March 19, 2012

Aberdares Park fire raging on



Written By:Carol Karimi,    Posted: Mon, Mar 19, 2012
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says the fire is being contained by several teams and is mobilizing further resources (File Picture)
A team of fire fighters that includes officers from the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the Kenya Army and the Local Community are struggling to save the Aberdares National Park from a fierce fire that enters its fourth day on Monday.
The team spent the better part of Sunday fighting the raging flames that are spreading very fast due to strong winds attributed to the park's moorland area which is about 4000 ft above sea level.
The fire has consumed more than 5000 acres of the forest cover. Head of Central Highland Conservancy Mr. John Wachihi, is optimistic that the fire will be managed by Monday evening.
The park and conservancy is a major natural resource and water tower that feeds Nairobi with over 80% of water and also contributes about 70% of hydropower that supports agricultural activities within the Central Kenya region and hence needs to be protected and conserved.
Speaking to the press Park's Deputy Game Warden Mr. Isaac Mwangi commended the team for its efforts in putting off the fire but said the activity was still on until the fire is subdued.
Aberdares National Park which is located 180 Kilometres from Nairobi is a major tourist attraction with a range of accommodation facilities. The park which was established in 1950 covers attitudes from about 7000ft to 14000 ft.
The park is home to wild animals like the baboon, black rhino, cheetah, colombus monkey among others.
A number of the small animals had died in the raging fire owing to their inability to flee from the inferno.
During exercise the fire fighting team including our Nyahururu correspondent Lydia Mwangi faced myriad challenges that included trekking for over 10 hours to reach the scene of the fire and had to retreat due to the harsh conditions as they await further reinforcement from other forces.
The firefighters, who use basic tools like rubber flippers and backpack fire extinguishers, have been forced to resort to traditional methods like clearing vegetation to create fire breaks to keep the fires from spreading to new areas.

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