This archive report was first published on 1 October 2019.
Published on October 1, 2019, a fire in Kenya's Aberdare Forest has left a trail of destruction, consuming over 70 hectares of bamboo.
The fire, suspected to have been started by illegal honey harvesters or poachers on Sunday, has been a challenge for Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to put out.
According to KWS Mt Kenya boss Bajila Kofa, the flames were fierce and spread quickly, prompting the deployment of 45 KWS officers to battle the fire on the night of Sunday, October 1.
"The fire started at around 6pm on Sunday, it was a fierce fire. We sent 45 KWS officers to battle it that night but the number was increased Monday morning," said Mr Kofa.
Mr Kofa revealed that the fire is located at Kinangop Peak, a short distance from Elephant Peak, the highest point of Aberdare Forest where a FlySax plane crashed in June last year.
A multiagency team has been working to contain the fire within a 500-square metre stretch, with officers deployed to pursue suspected poachers who could have started the inferno.
"We have identified some tracks left behind by strangers in the forest who we suspect to be rhino poachers. We are pursuing the strangers to establish their motive, they might have started the fire to make it easy for their poaching mission," said Mr Kofa.
Mr Kofa also noted that forest fires are common during the honey harvesting season, and that KWS has activated its response team to deal with the situation.
