AWF Blog

• Putting Out the Fire

  Posted: August 7, 2009, 8:17 pm by admin

  Hi everybody. This is Media, the Programme Officer for IGCP Rwanda. It’s taken me a bit of time, but I wanted to write about the recent fire in Volcanoes National Park and all of the heroic efforts of people working in and living near the Park to put it out. Fortunately, the mountain gorillas IGCP works to protect were nowhere near the flames, but we are honored to have joined all the brave people who helped contain the destructive fire.

  It started on what seemed like an ordinary weekend. I got a call in the morning from a beekeeper telling me that Volcanoes National Park was on fire! At that time, however, I didn’t realize the magnitude of his words.  I immediately contacted the park authorities only to be informed that they had just received the information and started mobilizing communities. For me, I thought “well this is just a one-day matter, then we can go back to our normal life, especially during the busiest time of the year in the Park: tourism high season.”

  The fire rages on Muhabura Volcano. © IGCP

  I was very wrong. Saturday evening I got a call from the Park’s law enforcement warden rushing back to Musanze from his school in Kibungo to deal with the fire emergency.  On Sunday during lunchtime, I was anxious and decided to call him regarding the progress in putting out the fire. “Do you know what Media? I have never seen this before.  If it continues to spread at this speed it will take three weeks to get rid of it!” he exclaimed. “What? Then the whole park would be gone!” I countered. On my way to Musanze near the Park from Kigali that day I checked to see if I could see the fire from the road, but could not see a thing.

  Fire spreading in the ravines of Muhabura Volcano. © IGCP

  On Monday morning, I decided to go into the field and see for myself what was happening and what IGCP could do to help. I had been informed that some people spent the night there, led by the warden in charge of law enforcement. Thus I passed through town to buy something for the teams, such as water, juice, biscuits and chocolates. In the Cyanika area we could see smoke in the forest from the road. The village was completely emptied of young men, and women were cooking for people fighting the fire in the forest.

  On community land we met exhausted people coming back from fighting the fire. “Hi madam!  Are you coming to help us to put out fire?” I was asked by one exhausted and sooty man. “Yes we need everyone for this work and we will get rid of it today”, he added. “For us we are going to rest a bit and come back in the afternoon to replace our friends; it will end today. We will make sure!”

  I started climbing the volcano, meeting various people on the way: military, police, community members. Everyone had brought whatever they were able to find: pangas (machetes), hoes, sticks – just anything they had to fight the fire. I finally reached the Park boundary completely exhausted, and said to myself that the people who went up to fight the fire are brave. Climbing these endless steep hills and the volcano, one needs to be patriotic and a true conservationist! The terrain was extremely difficult in some areas where people had to try and extinguish the fire in ravines, climbing over big hot rocks. People were really selfless in this exercise.

  A fire fighting team treks up the mountain to battle the blaze. © IGCP

  On top I met up with the chief park warden, the executive secretary of Cyanika sector and the police commander of Northern Province. One hour later we were joined by the vice mayor of Burera District, the governor of Northern Province, and even the minister in charge of Natural resources. The Minister made the trek? What an encouragement for the teams! The fire on Muhabura Volcano was not only the local communities’/park authorities’ problem anymore, but a national and transboundary problem.  The fire had crossed the Rwanda border into Uganda, and on the other side teams from Uganda joined their Rwanda counterparts to put it out.

  In the meantime, a military helicopter flew overhead, monitoring both areas.  A minute later another one equipped with a water pump dropped water in an area where the fire was raging on the Uganda side. They continued the same exercise until late in the evening. The coordination of all the teams and helicopters was amazing.

  A fire fighting helicopter drops water on a hot spot. © IGCP

  While discussing our continued response with the park warden, we decided to call in organized groups, such as volunteers who work with park staff for different conservation activities, and buy dry rations for them so they could spend the night in the forest extinguishing the fire. Many came during the evening, and on Tuesday more people came: approximately 4,000 from the disaster management center, police, military, Tigistes from Northern Province (genocidaires who do community work in lieu of jail time), local communities and park staff.

  The teams worked intensively and laboriously in collaboration with the Uganda teams to contain the fire by Wednesday at 5:00 PM. Job well done, they met to share drinks and boiled maize at a primary school in Cyanika before the trucks dropped them off in their villages and camps.  We eventually found out the beekeeper accidentally started the fire when high winds took a flame he was carrying to keep back bees while harvesting honey near the Park, which ignited the surrounding grass, eventually spreading to the Park.

  Teams being thanked by the authorities for their selfless contribution in putting out the fire. © IGCP

  In the aftermath, authorities thanked the teams and urged local communities to communicate in a timely manner these kinds of accidents, as well as avoid activities that can harm them and/or the Park. Everyone was dead on their feet, but you could see satisfaction in their eyes for a job well done.  And luckily, the fire was in an area not known to be frequented by gorillas, with all groups reported out of harm’s way.  Gorilla and human families safe, the clean up and rehabilitation process for the affected Park areas has now begun.

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