Wildfires raging through Isiolo County have decimated 60 percent of the savannah, the Kenya Forest Service has said.
Speaking in Bassa after an aerial tour to assess the damage, KFS chief conservator Ewaso Nyiro Basin said the fire swept through grassland and shrubland along the Ewaso Nyiro Basin.
Lemarkoko said the entire area is estimated to be between 300,000 and 400,000 hectares. “Sixty per cent has been consumed by fire,” he said.
Lemarkoko was accompanied by Isiolo Senator Adan Dullo. They later spoke to residents who relied on the areas that have been destroyed by the inferno.
The chief conservator said the place had good rains and hence a lot of biomasses that is now aiding the inferno.
He said the wind has also affected the spread of the fire. Dullo thanked the national government for supporting the ongoing efforts to put off the fire through the deployment of Kenya Forest Service rangers.
The senator warned that the fire risk spreading to areas where residents live if it is not put off urgently.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Forest Service is on high alert following the outbreak and escalation of wildfires. The latest weather forecast shows that predominantly sunny and dry conditions are expected across most parts of the country.
Some rainfall may occur in isolated areas of the highlands east and west of the Rift Valley, the Central and South Rift Valley and the Southeastern Lowlands.
The forecast, valid from January 24 to January 28, shows that isolated storms are also likely in parts of the Southeastern Lowlands and Central Highlands toward the end of the forecast period.
Parts of Turkana, Marsabit and Garissa counties are expected to experience strong southeasterly winds exceeding 25 knots (12.5 m/s). Strong winds aid the spread of wildfires.
Lemarkoko said the service has put in place interventions to contain wildfires common during dry seasons such as now. These include fire breaks.
“We also have a good number of fairly trained rangers who can respond. The biggest problem we have is with resources to support firefighting personnel, they are really limited.”
Lemarkoko said the service has a 22 million Euros project that supports fire capacity development but it is not fully established.
It is funded jointly by the government of Kenya and France and implemented by Tyllium SAS and Tyllium EA through KFS.
The project is titled: Capacity Development Project for
Modern Technologies on Forest Fire Management.
