The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has made a declaration of fire season and put in place measures for fire preparedness following cases of rampant fire outbreaks.
This follows prevailing dry windy conditions in many parts of the North Rift region that has led to the destruction of forests.
The recent incident is where a fire destroyed 40 acres of Seng’alo forest in Uasin Gishu County on Thursday.
According to the North Region head of conservancy Benjamin Kinyili, the fire is suspected to have been caused by some individuals in the homes adjacent to the forest who were released from prison after serving different sentences for crimes associated with forest destruction.
"The fire was contained not to spread to the entire 5,800 hectares piece of the forest by locals who responded with speed and later joined by officers from Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), KFS and those from Uasin Gishu fire fighting department," Kinyili said.
The KFS officer further noted that vegetations in most forests in the region are drying up rapidly leading to building up of inflammable materials thus increasing the risk of forest fire outbreaks.
"I caution people living near forests to avoid burning grass and other slashed materials while preparing their farms for planting season because that will expose the adjacent forests areas and other private property to higher risks of being destroyed by fires," he added.
Kinyili however assured residents that government officers will continue with patrols and instructed all county forest officers and forest station managers to urgently prepare and forward a fire preparedness report to his office.
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