Virunga fires contained

*Wildfire contained A top Rwanda Development Board (RDB) official said yesterday that the wildfires which engulfed the edge of the Volcanoes National Park since last Saturday had been contained. The wildfires broke out in Volcanoes National Park, destroying an anticipated 150 hectares of the 160 sq km forest on the Rwandan side. RDB Deputy CEO in Charge of Tourism and Conservation Rosette Rugamba said the fire has now been contained and only confined to three spots. “During the day, the fires are extremely hot and there are winds as well, therefore, more of the activity is during the night and we appreciate the locals show of support, they came up fast and helped,” Rugamba told the Press. Rwanda Defence Forces had provided fire fighting equipment and earlier estimates put the total cost of putting off this fire at Rwf 50m. However, the amount is likely to rise to Rwf 100 million. Roughly 4,000 locals and Park rangers led by RDF worked night and day to put off this fire, according to Rugamba. A government taskforce has been formed to monitor and oversee the operation. “What would have been a bigger disaster has been contained because it was given the highest priority and I thank government for its transboundary cooperation.” The forest area is a single eco-system that extends to Uganda and DRC. Earlier, Rwandan military helicopters, on Ugandas permission had crossed into Ugandan airspace to help put out the fire and, it has reportedly been put out in Uganda. However, the Rwandan operation still faces challenges because of a difficult terrain. “The biggest challenge on our side is the ravines and valleys,” Rugamba said. Rugamba countered earlier media reports that wild animals had started fleeing the area stressing that the affected area is not a habitat to any wild animals. The burnt area is said to be 20kms away from the closest Gorilla habitat and, as Rugamba emphasized, tourism activities are going on as usual without interruption. Apart from the big sums of money, time and labour aligned for the fire fighting operation, lot of vegetation and undergrowth has been destroyed. The last time such fire broke out in the park was in 1978. Ends