Fire has destroyed more than 700 hectares of vegetation at Aberdare National Park, Environment
CS Keriako Tobiko has said.
In a statement on Saturday, Tobiko said the
fire has been going on since Thursday morning and it is still burning at Kamiruri area of Ndaragua forest station.
"... the Shamata fire at Aberdares is also still raging despite major efforts by multi-agency responders," Tobiko said.
Tobiko said
KDF troops have been deployed to help battle the fire in Aberdares and
at Mt Kenya National Park.
The Mt Kenya fire has been raging on for a week and consumed more than 100,000 hectares of vegetation.
By Friday evening, the fire had been put out in some areas and efforts have been stepped up in other areas that are still burning.
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Four major fires in Meru and Tharaka Nithi side are still burning despite major suppression efforts witnessed today.
Tobiko said
555 responders including KDF soldiers are now on site working to contain the fire.
"Unfortunately, a fire has also erupted at a Bamboo forest near Chogoria gate.
Fire at the Kirinyaga side in Kangaita had been controlled but later in the day it erupted again," he said.
"KDF today deployed 240 troops to Chogoria gate. Another 250 KDF troops have been deployed to Nyeri side of Mt. Kenya. The fire seems stubborn mainly due to bad weather."
The dry seasons between of January to March and August to September are characterised by high temperatures and low humidity.
Forests and grasslands become tinder-dry.
Conservators have dismissed the notion that burning forests brings rains. Fires cause massive destruction and forests take many years to recover.
In 2017, more than 17,000 acres of the Aberdares Forest were destroyed by fire. In that year, wildfire destroyed 220 acres of indigenous trees in Menengai Forest. The flames were fanned by winds, raising fears the fire could spread to the neighbouring homes.
In March 2015, more than 300 acres of the forest were destroyed.
In 2015, 4,000 acres of the Maasai Mau Forest were destroyed by fire. The forest is the source of Mara River. More than 10 families were left homeless and fled to Narok county.
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