Arusha — TANZANIA National Parks (TANAPA) has said that it has managed to contain the fire that broke on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro last Friday.

However, the conservation agency maintained that it was not taking anything to chance even as battling of the fire gathers pace.

In a telephone interview with the 'Daily News' on Tuesday, TANAPA's Senior Conservation Officer in Charge of Communications, Ms Catherine Mbena, said they were still monitoring the situation at the more than 3,800 metres elevation point.

"We might have controlled the blaze but it is still important to keep tabs with the situation, mindful that anything can happen," explained the TANAPA official.

Ms Mbena pointed out that the area was synonymous with windstorms, which can be a major cause of the fire to even spread further.

"This explains why we deployed more people to help contain the fire," she said.

Her assertions come as the Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Mr Nurdin Babu announced on Sunday, about deployment of more fire fighters on Africa's rooftop.

The multi-agency exercise has involved more than 600 personnel from a number of institutions, according to Mr Babu.

They include the Tanzania Fire and Rescue Force, the Tanzania National Parks, police, scouts, members of the militia and the private sector.

The cause of the fire and the damage it has caused is yet to be established, since the fire broke out last Friday.

Two years ago, a raging fire that erupted on Mt Kilimanjaro razed down 12 huts and two solar panels at Horombo hut, located 3, 720 metres above mean sea level.

TANAPA said then that the inferno could have been caused by a cigarette butt, dropped and abandoned by one of the porters accompanying tourists up the mountain.

Mt Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, about 4,900 metres from its base, and 5,895 metres above sea level, making it one of the seven summits.

Rising majestically above the African plains, the 19, 341-feet mountain has beckoned to climbers since the first recorded summit in 1889.

It is one of the continent's magnificent sights and has three main volcanic peaks; Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira.