The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) were deployed to the Lake Nakuru National Park, on Wednesday, March 3, to aid the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS), and Kenya Forestry Services (KFS) to put out a raging fire that broke out a day earlier.
KWS said that the fire started at 10 am on Tuesday, March 2, near a shooting range at Lanet. Officials suspect that the fire could have been ignited intentionally.
The wildfire which had been contained by Wednesday morning, however, spread after it was fanned by strong winds and dry grass.
KDF personnel was sent to support other entities to stop the fire as they were overstretched. The agencies were celebrating World Wildlife Day when their celebrations were cut short by the incident.
Rangers from KWS fought the fire on the ground while KDF managed it via the skies.
The fire had consumed a section of the Eastern Part of the park, an area that hosts the black rhinos.
"The fire started from the community and we are making follow-ups to find out who started it. We shall take all the necessary legal actions against anyone found culpable as they didn't report to us, and neither did they contain the fire.
"We believe that we will manage the fire as the area consumed is manageable. We are putting in all efforts to manage it within the shortest time possible," KWS assistant Central Rift regional director Dickson Ritan said.
He added that investigations into the incident had commenced but they were yet to ascertain the extent of the damage caused. Ritan urged residents to desist from lighting fires near the fence lines.
Game wardens added that some affected wildlife shifted to a safer area, but raised concerns that snakes and other reptiles may have been killed by the flames. Nearly 300 hectares of the park was reportedly consumed by the fire.
