Less than a month after wildfires consumed hundreds of hectares of land in Isiolo, similar fires broke out in the Aberdare and Mt Kenya forests on Wednesday morning, with authorities struggling to contain them.
Officers from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Kenya Forest Service (KFS) confirmed the incident, stating that they were actively battling the fires to bring the situation under control.
KWS Senior Assistant Director in the Mountain Conservation Area, Lucy Mwati, said that several teams were working to contain the fire in the Embaringo section of the Aberdare Forest.
Rhino Ark, a non-governmental conservation group, also confirmed that they had deployed helicopters in collaboration with other partners to assist KWS and KFS officers.
However, they added that they had managed to contain the inferno at Gatare and Central Moorlands within the forest.
"Three fires have affected the Aberdare ecosystem: two of them (Gatare and Central Moorlands) have been contained, but a third near Embaringo rages on. We are supporting efforts with rations and transport, with Tropic Air Kenya deploying helicopters to assist the firefighters," Rhino Ark confirmed.
According to reports, this was the second incident recorded, less than a fortnight after a similar incident was experienced last week.
The authorities attributed the recent spate of wildfires in the forest to the ongoing hot weather being experienced across the country.
This latest wave comes exactly one year after another fire broke out in the Aberdare Forest on February 17, an incident that resulted in the deaths of two KWS officers. The officers perished in an accident while on their way to contain the situation.
Meanwhile, in the Mt Kenya Forest, officials from conservation groups stated that a team of conservationists was still battling a fire in the Burguret area.
Similar fires have been reported in conservancies in central Kenya in recent weeks, raising concerns about the impact of prolonged dry weather on the region's forests.
Additionally, a section of the Maasai Mara game reserve was razed down by wildfires that destroyed wild animals and trees.
