The fire, which broke out on the night of Friday, did not make a victim. Its origin has not been determined but fire could be linked to human activities, while several tens of thousands of people climb these slopes each year.
Le Monde with AFP
The fire that burned the slopes of Mount Kilimandjaro, the highest summit in Africa, for more than twenty-four hours was largely “controlled” on Sunday October 23, announced the Tanzanian authorities.
The fire broke out in the evening of Friday near the Karanga camp, stop for hikers and mountaineers located about 4,000 meters above sea level on one of the most frequented ascent routes leading to the “roof of the ‘Africa “(5,895 meters).
“To a large extent, [fire] is already extinguished in most areas, although there are still fumarolles,” said the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism first , Eliamani Sedoyeka, Sunday morning. In the early evening, the ministry announced in a statement that the fire had been checked in several other points. “The situation is generally under control, we believe that it will be completely controlled over time,” he said.
about 500 people mobilized, including civilians
The fire did not make any victim in this high tourist place in northeast of Tanzania, very popular in particular of lovers of trekking and mountaineering. Several tens of thousands of people climb its slopes each year. A total of 500 people – firefighters, staff of the National Parks Authority (Tanapa), police as well as civilians – mobilized to fight fire, which had been fueled by a strong wind.
Videos circulating on social networks on Saturday showed large flames devouring vegetation of bushes and shrubs and giving off thick plumes of gray smoke. The firefighters notably managed to prevent the flames from reaching the forest area below.
If the origin of the fire is not yet formally identified, Mr. Sedoyeka said on Saturday evening that “it is possible that a climber or honey pickers caused the fire by negligence”. An official of the National Parks Authority (Tanapa), Herman Batiho, said he was “sure that he is due to human activities, perhaps the extraction of honey by residents or (…) poachers “.
Two years after a fire that had ravaged 95 km 2
This fire comes exactly two years after a fire which had ravaged, in October 2020, for a week, 95 km2 of slopes, without making a victim. According to the first elements of the investigation at the time, the fire had been caused by carriers who accompanied climbers.
emblematic mountain whose snowy topics are known around the world, Kilimandjaro and the area surrounding it are classified as a national park, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage. Of a total area of more than 75,000 hectares (more than 750 km 2
é>), the park is home to a remarkable ecosystem, with a rich flora and a fauna composed of elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, etc. .
This volcanic massif made up of three peaks (Kibo, Mawenzi, Shira) is no exception to global warming, which notably dries up its vegetation, successively composed of plains, mountain forest then altitude heath, before a desert Alpine and the summit. The “Neiges du Kilimandjaro” celebrated by Ernest Hemingway could even disappear by 2040, according to a 2011 report from the World Meteorological Organization, the UN weather agency, on the climate situation of Africa. The surface covered by the glaciers fell 85 % in a century, going from 11.40 km 2 in 1912 to 1.76 km 2 sup> in 2011.