MOSHI, Tanzania
Three days after fire broke
out on Africa’s tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro there are no signs of containing
the wild flames that are in the moorland area.
As a result, the Tanzania
National Parks Authority (Tanapa) has sought help from the Tanzania People's
Defence Forces (TPDF) to control the fire which continues to spread rapidly due
to strong winds.
According to Tanapa there are more than 500 people including police
officers, Fire and Rescue Service, Tanapa guard, students from the College of
Wildlife Management (Mweka), rangers and other stakeholders from tourism
companies at the scene to deal with the fire
The fire which broke out on
October 21 at 7:00pm Karanga towards Baranco, which is estimated to be about
3,963 meters above sea level.
Speaking to journalists at the
Mweka gate, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and
Tourism, Professor Eliamani Sedoyeka said they went around the burning area
using a Tanapa plane and checked the extent of the fire and the affected area.
Professor Sedoyeka said that
after seeing that the fire was still raging, they decided to contact the
leadership of TPDF and ask for more manpower to help curb the fire.
“We have more than 500
people at the scene but we have communicated to the TPDF and we expect them to
arrive anytime as we push to stop this inferno,” he said.
He added: What we are doing
now is to prevent the fire from descending into the thick forest and we hope
that if we increase our strength, we will be able to control this fire within
two days because we have already managed to control it in two areas," -
Africa
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