The fire, the origin of which was not yet known, rages around 4,000 meters above sea level on the southern slope of the “roof of Africa”. More than 300 people have been mobilized to try to contain fire.
Le Monde with AFP
A fire devoured, Saturday October 22, the slopes of Mount Kilimandjaro, higher summit of Africa located in northeast of Tanzania. More than 300 people have been deployed to try to contain the fire.
The fire, the origin of which is not yet known, rages near the Karanga camp, stop for mountaineers located about 4,000 meters above sea level on the southern slope of the “roof of Africa” ( 5,895 meters). The regional authorities said at the beginning of the afternoon that he did not threaten the tourists present on this mountain, very popular with lovers of trekking and mountaineering.
The exact magnitude of the fire, which broke out on Friday evening, and was fueled by the strong wind which blew in the sector during the night, remained indefinite Saturday at the end of the day. A plane carrying local officials and officials of the National Parks Agency (Tanapa) to assess the situation could not access the site on Saturday afternoon.
the scale of the fire still unknown
“Big clouds and smoke prevented us from reaching the fire zone,” the prefect of the Kilimandjaro region, Nurdin Babu, told the press. “We will try again when the situation is a little better,” he added. “We cannot decide on the magnitude of the fire for the moment because attention is paid on the control of fire,” the regional police chief Yahaya Mdogo said at the start of the afternoon.
“We have no information concerning the impact on the population, apart from the fact that the [vegetation of] brush burns,” he added. videos circulating on social networks showed the flames devouring the vegetation, giving off thick plumes of gray smoke.
efforts are continuing in #tanzania to extinguish a fire that has broken out in mount kilimanjaro, the highhest peak… https://t.co/w5fnqc1kqc
More than 300 people, including residents of the surroundings, were mobilized to prevent fire from expanding, detailed Mr. Mdogo. “Tanapa staff, police, firefighters, students from the University of Wildlife [from the village] of Mweka and employees of the Zara Tours tour operator work to control the fire,” said his On the tanapa side, in a brief press release.
decrease of 85 % of the surface covered by glaciers
This fire comes exactly two years after a fire that had ravaged, for a week in October 2020, 95 km2 of slopes, without making a victim. Kilimandjaro, emblematic mountain whose snowy topics are known around the world, and the area surrounding it are classified as a national park, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage.
With a total area of more than 75,000 hectares (more than 750 km 2
é>), the park is home to a remarkable ecosystem, including a fauna composed of elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, etc. This volcanic massif composed of three peaks (Kibo, Mawenzi, Shira) does not escape global warming, which notably dries its vegetation, composed successively of plains, mountain forest then altitude heath, before an alpine desert and the Summit.
The “snow of Kilimandjaro” celebrated by Ernest Hemingway could even disappear by 2040, according to a 2011 report from the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Météo 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.