Fire destroys 300 acres at Menengai Crater

An eclipse -like shadow caused by a fiery fire on Saturday clouded Nakuru Town and its environs as the three hour long inferno destroyed over 300 acres of vegetation at Menengai Crater.

Nakuru County Environment Director Mr Timothy Muriithi confirmed the outbreak saying that his ministry coordinated fighting efforts against it with officers from the Kenya Forest Service (KFS).

The fire which started at around noon spread at a high intensity, and by the time of publishing, the KFS officers with the help of the public, and the County fire fighting team were still struggling to put it out.

County Executive in charge of Environment Mr Richard Rop, however believes the fire might have been started by arsonists who were trying to get access to the forest.

Mr Rop expressed concern saying that most of these fires have occurred on Saturdays and promised to investigate their cause.

INVESTIGATE CAUSE

“We will investigate why these fires occur only on Saturdays, this being the third time fire has occurred, of late at the Menengai crater,” said Muriithi.

This comes barely two weeks after more than 150 acres of vegetation in the same forest was destroyed after a fire broke out.

Two days later, a fire broke out destroying a larger part of Koibatek forest which forms part of the larger Mau Complex.

This comes at a time when the KFS had issued a forest fire alert, especially the prevailing dry spell, occasioned by depressed rainfall currently being experienced.

Fires in the indigenous forests are hard to contain as they spread fast.

FIRE OUTBREAK DANGER

With the prolonged dry weather, the country’s water towers are in danger of fire outbreaks.

In most cases, illegal charcoal kilns and arsonists are to blame for starting the said fire which is further fuelled by strong winds and the dry weather condition.

The dry season of January to March and August to September are often characterized by high temperatures and therefore low humidity which makes forests and other vegetation areas highly susceptible to fire out breaks.

Adapted from: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Fire-destroys-300-acres-at-Menengai-Crater/-/1056/2645792/-/jmahfvz/-/index.html