Today a brushfire is burning on the South slope of Kilimanjaro reportedly having climbed to 20,000 feet. Strange as it is, it's not the first time. A large fire swept the upper slopes in 1999 there was a forest fire on the lower slopes in 2013. There is no news as to the cause thus far. Update: October 13, 2020. The Tanzania National Parks Authority reports that the fire is largely contained. Reportedly it was started by a cooking fire that went out of control at the 12,000 foot level. This is well above the forest so it was contained as a brush fire. Hundreds of parks employees, students and volunteers turned out to battle the fire.