Military helicopters have been deployed to fight a large forest fire that broke out on July 16 in the Borodulikha district of the Abai region. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the firefighting efforts are complicated by extreme heat, high fire danger class, and difficult terrain.
The ministry noted that along with the equipment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the most difficult sections of the fire are being extinguished by army aviation crews equipped with water-discharge devices.
"The operation involves two military Mi-17 helicopters and one Mi-171Sh. To date, military pilots have performed more than 30 water drops, delivering 57 tons of water to the fire sites," the Defense Ministry reported.
According to the ministry, this has reduced the intensity of the fire spread and facilitated the work of ground units.
In total, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, more than 600 people, 148 units of ground equipment, and seven helicopters are fighting the fire in Semey Ormany. In total, aviation has already performed 123 water drops with a total volume of 157 tons.
The firefighting also involves employees of state forest institutions, KazaviaLesookhrana, units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Security Committee, local executive bodies, and the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Ecology reported that 10 forest fires were registered in the state forest fund of Kazakhstan over the past 24 hours.
One of them occurred in the Karaganda region, four on the territory of the Semey Ormany reserve, and another five in the Ertis Ormany. Most of the fires in the Pavlodar region, according to preliminary data, were caused by lightning strikes.
Recall that on the instructions of Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Chingis Arinov and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Yerlan Nysanbayev went to the Abai region, where a forest fire is raging. They are coordinating firefighting efforts on site.