Fierce fire destroys over 70 hectares of bamboo in Aberdare Forest

A raging fire has destroyed more than 70 hectares of bamboo in Aberdare Forest even as Kenya Wildlife Service battles to put it out.

According to KWS Mt Kenya boss Mr Bajila Kofa, the flames are suspected to have been started by illegal honey harvesters or poachers on Sunday.

“The fire started at around 6pm on Sunday, it was a fierce fire. We sent 45 KWS officers to battle it that night but the number was increased Monday morning," said Mr Kofa.

He said the fire is at Kinangop Peak, a short distance from Elephant Peak, the highest point of Aberdare Forest where the FlySax plane crashed in June last year.

A multiagency team is working to contain the fire within a 500-square metre stretch, Mr Kofa has said.

POACHERS

The KWS boss said officers have been deployed to pursue suspected poachers who could have started the inferno.

“We have identified some tracks left behind by strangers in the forest who we suspect to be rhino poachers. We are pursuing the strangers to establish their motive, they might have started the fire to make it easy for their poaching mission,” said Mr Kofa.

“The rhino poachers also have a habit of lighting the fire so that they can kill the animals as we concentrate on firefighting, but they will not succeed,” he added.

Mr Kofa said forest fires are common during the honey harvesting season.

“The fire season is here with us again, its honey harvesting season. We expect fires in the Aberdare and Mt Kenya forests but we have activated our response team," he said.

WINDS

Mr Kofa said firefighters have been working overnight and are likely to contain the fire by Tuesday evening if the winds remain calm.

Kinangop sub-county Police Commander Charles Rotich said firefighting had been hampered from the start since the location of the fire could not be identified.

“We spotted the plumes of smoke on Sunday evening but we were unable to trace the real location from Njabini Town. We also have a communication challenge due to poor network connectivity in the Aberdare Forest, but we have dispatched enough multiagency teams and members of the public to assist,” said Mr Rotich.

A resident, Mr Chege Kahuni, described the inferno as "very huge" and can best be spotted from the Fly-Over Market in Kinangop Constituency, along the busy Nakuru-Nairobi highway.

“We spotted the fire on Sunday evening but it was more visible at 9pm when it escalated. On Monday morning, we spotted tens of KWS officers armed with foodstuff heading towards the forest to battle the fire. But it is a tough terrain and must have taken them hours to arrive at the scene,” said Mr Kahuni.

During the search for the FlySax plane crash, it took the detectives and rescuers more than eight hours of walking, to get to Elephant Peak, which is a short distance from where the fire has been reported.