The fire at the Aksai quarry in the Aksai Gorge near Almaty, which had been burning since August 3, has been fully extinguished today. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the threat of fire spreading to nearby areas was avoided.
"The extinguishing was complicated by the fact that the smoldering sources were located on a steep, hard-to-reach slope where fire engines could not approach. The situation was also complicated by strong gusts of wind, which caused the smoldering to spread faster," the ministry said.
During the firefighting, specialists simultaneously carried out reclamation of the site and covered the sources with soil to prevent re-ignition. All work was carried out under constant control of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
A total of 25 personnel and 17 units of equipment from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, local executive bodies, and a private organization were involved in extinguishing the fire. Currently, the fire has been completely eliminated.
The day before, Almaty residents also reported a smell of burning in the city on social media and linked it to the fire at the quarry. However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations did not report official data on the spread of smoke or harmful emissions towards the metropolis. On August 3, the ministry stated that the fire had been contained.