A wildfire that reignited at Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains Nation Park blazed through 753ha of the park last weekend. Reignited on April 8, 2019, the fire has not been put under full control and has consumed vegetation and natural habitat areas within the park.

The initial fire began on March 26, 2019, in Gich grasslands where frequent fires occur. The fire raged for almost five days and destroyed 342ha of the park before it was put under control after a campaign and rescue efforts that mobilised many volunteers.

Apparently, the fire was smoldering and was reignited in the same area in the middle of last week, destroying another 400ha area of the park. By the end of last week, the fire in the grasslands was controlled, while the fire still remains out of control in inaccessible precipice areas.

"Firebreaks that create cleared areas and gaps in the vegetation along the fire path were established to combat the spread," said Abebaw Azanew, Park Warden of Simien Mountains Nation Park, which was established in 1969 and has 180 bird species, six species of which are endemic.

The fire killed one gelada baboon, an animal on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and an endemic mammal to Ethiopia; a large number of insects and rodent populations; scorched a significant grassland portion of the park; and some reports show that natural habitats of other sensitive and endemic species like the walia ibex and Ethiopian wolf were also affected.

To control the fire, rescue workers are digging ditches and establishing fire breaks, according to Abebaw.

Kummera Waqjera, director general of the Ethiopian Wild Life Conservation Authority, which administers 13 national parks that generated 123 million Br in revenue last year, supports the fire control method.

"The government is providing water, food, shelter and transportation for the fire rescue workers and volunteers," Kummera told journalists at a press conference held last Thursday, April 11, 2019.

Locals, however, complained the government's response to the fire was very slow, while rescue efforts of the farmers in the area and volunteers were immense.

"About 500 youth from the neighbouring areas flocked to the park to help with the rescue," Tomas Jejaw, one of the volunteers told Fortune.

Tomas asserts the main problem they are facing is a shortage of fire fighting equipment and tools, not human resources.

While the Authority states that sources of the fire have not been identified, the residents of the area suspect arson to be the cause.