Sorry no pictures of the fires...
Fire spotted on hillside 10km away around 20:00 and reported to FB. Advised to monitor wind and fire location throughout the night. Volunteer Managers(VMs) made decision to have team pre-pack bags in the event we needed an emergency evacuation.
A second fire flared up across the river within 2km of camp at approximately 21:30. We rousted the guides due to the fire located upwind from our camp location. Local villagers seemed to contain that fire and just as we thought it was out for good a third fire started.
This time it was within 500m and blowing embers and smoke into camp. We immediately made the decision to evacuate and assembled the team quickly. The guide team were still packing their gear when the VM team told them "leave it behind we need to leave now". As we left I could feel the heat of the fire on the back of my neck. We headed toward the nearby Idodi village where we contacted FB and eventually the chairman. One guide returned on a motorbike with a village elder. They observed 4 people with head torches running from the vicinity of camp as they approached. The guide and elder removed the tents and any gear that could be packed on the motorbike and returned to the village. Upon their return, we secured overnight accommodations in the village offices. Since the room did not have door or window screens, we setup the tents inside the room for mosquito protection.
Based on feedback from guides we suspect the fires were intentionally set to drive us from camp by thieves in hopes of looting the campsite. Fortunately we did not lose any equipment due to the fire or from theft.
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