More than seventy hectares of the beautiful and unspoilt Aberdare forest, south of the Kinangop area, have been burning for two days without respite and have already destroyed a huge forest of bamboo.
The violent fire broke out around 6 p.m. last Sunday and a few hours later a battalion of 45 rangers of the Kenya Wildlife Service was sent to the area, with all the difficulties of the case, to try to put it out or at least to circumscribe it. 
According to local media reports by Senior Warden of Mount Kenya's KWS, Bajila Kofa, the suspicion is that the flames were caused by honey collectors or, worse, poachers looking for rhinos hidden in the forest. 
Yesterday morning other KWS and forest staff were sent to Kinangop, on the road to Elephant Peak, the highest point of the Aberdare forest, where the fire is spreading. 
"A multi-agency team is working to contain the fire within a 500 square meter stretch," Kofa added.
Last March, a man-made fire exacerbated by severe drought and strong winds destroyed 700 hectares of forest on the slopes of Mount Kenya and then attacked the Aberdare area. Already in 2017, the forest had been affected by the flames and had started from bamboo plantations.