Fire breaks out in Kenya during British military exercise

A general view shows smoke billowing from a fire that broke out during an exercise by British troops at a conservancy near Nanyuki, in central Kenya, March 26, 2021. [Reuters]

A fire broke out in a wildlife conservancy in Kenya during an exercise by British troops stationed in the country, the British army said.

“We can confirm that there has been a fire during a UK-led exercise in Kenya and that investigations are ongoing,” a spokesman for the British army said in a statement late on Thursday.

A spokesman from the Kenya Wildlife Service told Reuters that its team had joined the effort to extinguish the fire.

“All personnel have been accounted for, and our priority now is to urgently assist the local community if they have been impacted. We are putting all our resources into containing the fire and are working closely with the Kenyan authorities to manage the situation,” read the statement.

A staff member at Lolldaiga House, a private holiday home in the Lolldaiga Hills Ranch some 20 kilometres north of Mount Kenya in the country’s central region, confirmed to Reuters that a fire was raging. She directed Reuters to the general manager of the ranch who said he had no comment.

The British army runs joint exercises with British and Kenyan soldiers in the northern Laikipia region and has a base there in the town of Nanyuki.