Both the Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service top management officials are concerned with fire incidents in their various jurisdictions.
The KWS acting Director General Erustus Kanga said fire incidents have been experienced in Ruma National Park, Hell’s gate, Mount Kenya National Park and Mount Elgon.
“We have however managed to suppress fires in Ruma, Hell’s gate and Mount Elgon,” Kanga says.
“We are doing our best to manage the situation with the little resources we have,” he added.
By Wednesday, fires in Mount Kenya and Aberdare were still going on.
“We are working with partners such as KFS, National Youth Service and County government to provide the necessary support,” Kanga said.
He said the emergency kitty is helping the service deal with the inferno.
The acting DG said the service is working hard to put up firebreaks, especially in Aberdares which is most affected by the fire.
“We need to train more firefighters,” Kanga said, citing the cause of the fire to be the ongoing drought as well as arson.
He said they suspect arson in Mount Kenya as well as Aberdares.
Kanga said people were accessing forest for livelihoods such as medicines, berries and in some cases bush meat.
He said due to drought some people have been trying to access forests with their livestock.
This has however not been witnessed in Aberdares and Mount Kenya.
However, it has been witnessed in Chyulu, Tsavo West and Tsavo East.
Kanga said the local communities were being engaged as they are the best partners for the services.
Two people died while on a firefighting mission in the Aberdare National Park.
The national park has been ravaged by wildfires for the past six days with KWS saying the most affected area is the moorlands.
Kanga broke the news about the death of the rangers when he visited the area on Monday to assess the firefighting operations.
"The fires have worsened as a result of the prevailing drought and high-altitude winds, which have desiccated the Moorland. The DG expressed his condolences to the Park as they lost two of their staff during the firefighting operations," KWS said.
Kanga thanked and commended the community who joined in the exercise as well as Rhino Ark for their support with firefighting tools and facilitation of the teams.
On Sunday, the charitable trust Rhino Ark executive director Christian Lambrechts said more than 15,000 acres have been lost in Aberdares.
Lambrechts said they suspect arson as the cause of the fire in Aberdare as "three fires started at the same time next to each other."
KFS Chief Conservator Julius Kamau said temperatures have been rising since October last year.
Kamau said 180 fire incidences have since then been reported.
The CCF said the service is working with partners to address fire incidences being reported.
Kamau said about 10,000 hectares of moorland have been destroyed as a result of the raging flames in Aberdares.
The CCF said the driving forces are natural as a result of the rising temperatures triggering them.
Kamau said in some instances, people lit fires so that new one grows.
In some instances, Kamau said, honey harvesters do their work before carelessly leaving the fire unattended, sparking flames.
Some smoke and carelessly leave fire from cigarette butts.
The CCF said the raging wildlife has been aided by dry matter and strong winds.
On Wednesday, Kamau presided over a meeting for the implementation of the Capacity Development Project for Modern Technologies in Forest Fire Management in the country.
The meeting between KFS, representatives from the French Embassy, Tyllium SAS and Tyllium East Africa Ltd was held at the Karura headquarters.
The project whose operation came into force on January 31, 2023, aims at procuring the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a digital trunking radio communication network and fire detection network as well as supply of various firefighting vehicles.
It also projects to procure personnel protective equipment and tools and provision firefighting training services.
During the meeting, the CCF noted that the project was a very strategic cooperation that will be supported by the service fully through the mobilisation of resources.
He expressed confidence that the forest-adjacent communities will also benefit from the training that will be rendered during the project period.
The meeting was attended by the Senior Deputy CCF Directorate of Forest Conservation and Management Peter Waweru and KFS Commandant Alex Lemarkoko.
