Mount Kilimanjaro fire: Efforts underway to douse flames on Africa's tallest peak

A fire broke out on Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, on October 11. The National Parks Service (TANAPA) in a statement released on October 12 stated that firefighters were battling the fierce blaze. The country’s National Park Service even shared a picture of the mountain with far off red lights that were supposedly the fires burning on the mountain.

Fire still burning despite attempts to contain

According to Pascal Shelutete, a TANAPA official, firefighters and locals, as well as other governmental institutions were battling the fire in an attempt to contain it. Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain and rises nearly 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) above sea level. Thousands of tourists from around the world travel to Tanzania to climb the dormant volcano every year.

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The blaze broke out on the mountain late on Sunday, and even though authorities and locals are trying to extinguish the flames, their efforts have been hampered by the high altitude at which the fire is located. Mount Kilimanjaro is known as the roof of Africa and not only is it Africa’s highest peak, it is also the world’s tallest free-standing mountain.

Kilimanjaro is the fourth most prominent peak on Earth and the first people to reach the summit were Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller back in 1889. Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano that has tree cones called Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira.

(Image benji_Fernandes/Twitter)

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