Huge blaze rages on Mount Kilimanjaro for TWO days as firefighters try to keep fire under control

Video shows clouds of dark smoke billowing over the highest peak in Africa as crews battle fierce flames raging across Mount Kilimanjaro.

The blaze broke out Friday night on the south side of the mountain along a popular climbing route. Authorities have not yet established how the fire started, but at least two park officials have said they are ‘sure’ human activity is to blame.

The blaze was burning at about 4,000 metres altitude near the camp Karanga site, which is used by climbers ascending the mountain. 

More than 300 people were mobilised on Saturday to tackle the blaze, with police and local people in Tanzania helping firefighters. 

Tanzanian authorities on Sunday said the inferno was mostly under control and the aim was to bring the fire completely under control by the evening.

The blaze comes exactly two years after an inferno raged across Mount Kilimanjaro for a week and destroyed thousands of hectares of woodland on its slopes.

‘We have seen great success in controlling the fire. To a large extent, it’s already extinguished in most areas although there are still smokes,’ said Eliamani Sedoyeka, an official at the natural resources and tourism ministry. 

Mr Sedoyeka noted they hope to have the fire completely under control by Sunday evening.

Nurdin Babu, the prefect of Kilimanjaro, told reporters on Sunday ‘everything is under control… we have managed to control the fire to a great extent’.

The blaze left no victims in the tourist hotspot and UNESCO World Heritage site in northeastern Tanzania, where tens of thousands of climbers flock each year to conquer its snow-capped peak.

The cause remains unknown but Sedoyeka on Saturday said a climber or honey hunters may have started it ‘carelessly’.

Herman Batiho, an official at Tanzania’s national parks authority, said he was ‘sure’ human activity was to blame through illegal poaching or locals extracting honey.

Social media footage on Saturday showed huge flames consuming vegetation and bushes and giving off grey smoke. 

The fire started on Friday evening and was spread by strong winds during the night, regional officials revealed. They could not yet say how much ground it covered.

A plane transporting local officials and leading members of the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) for a visit to evaluate the situation was unable to land on Saturday.

‘Large clouds and the smoke prevented us from reaching the fire zone,’ Mr Babu told journalists on Saturday. ‘We will try again when the situation improves.’

Videos posted on social media appeared to show the flames devouring vegetation and giving off thick clouds of grey smoke.

Police, firefighters, students from the local university and even staff from tour operators were working hard to bring the blaze under control, TANAPA said in a brief statement.

Local tour guide Abraham Moshi says some of his staff are among those helping to battle the blaze. He recalled first seeing the blaze on Friday from his home in Moshi, located south of the mountain. 

‘We were having a BBQ outside. We saw big huge flames coming from the mountainside. We weren’t sure what it was at first,’ Mr Moshi, who runs tour company Exuberant Kilimanjaro Safaris, told Sky News on Sunday.

‘We started taking videos but no one knew what it was until Saturday, [when] it was reported that there was a big fire.’ 

He added: ‘Right now is dry season, we’re still pretty much in dry season. Rains are supposed to start now into November, but we still haven’t received rain yet. It’s pretty much dry and windy – that could affect the fire.’ 

Mount Kilimanjaro, situated in the northeast of the country, is Africa’s highest summit at 5,895 metres (19,340 feet). Its snow-capped peak is known around the globe.

The forests surrounding it form part of a national park. Kilimanjaro National Parks is registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, in part because many endangered species live there.