Tanzanian army joins firefighters to contain Kilimanjaro fires

The reignited wildfire on Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro has propelled Tanzania’s government to deploye hundreds of army troops to help firefighters contain the unimaginable blaze which has raged for close to two weeks.

The blaze started on Friday evening near the Karanga site used by climbers ascending the famous peak, at about 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) altitude on its south side. It was reported that whirlwinds fanned the fire but a team of some 400 people, including students and volunteers, battled to contain it on Sunday before it lit up in other areas.

The Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) has swung into action by co-operating with firefighters and volunteers to see the fire is put out early enough before it crosses to vegetation area around the mountain.

A statement by the TPDF says “officers and men of TPDF have already arrived in Siha and Mweka areas in Kilimanjaro Region ready to fight the fire.” Hundreds of people, including firefighters, national park staff, tour guides and civilians, have been battling to put out the fires with little success.

The cause of the fires is not known yet but the government says human activities are most likely to blame. Scientists have warned that human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events, including heatwaves and droughts, more frequent and intense.

However, government believes a prolonged drought, clusters of decaying organic material and whirlwind are some of the reasons the fire has been hard to control. The forests surrounding it form part of a national park, and Kilimanjaro National Park is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, in part because many endangered species live there.

The latest blaze at the mountain comes two years after another fire raged for a week in October 2020 across 95 square kilometers (37 square miles).