A fire at an active solid household waste landfill in the Almaty region has been localized. The ignition occurred at the exit from the village of Uzynagash in the Zhambyl district, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The fire spread across an area of 500 square meters. An operational headquarters is working at the site, and the full elimination of the fire continues.
What complicates extinguishing
The extinguishing effort is complicated by the depth of waste storage: in some sections of the landfill it reaches 3-5 meters. Water is being delivered to the fire site.
To prevent the further spread of the fire, bulldozers are separating non-burning waste from the areas engulfed in flames. At the same time, rescuers are pouring water over the combustion sources.
Loaders and dump trucks are moving the waste and covering it with inert materials.
Forces involved
A total of 33 people and 22 units of equipment from the Almaty region Emergency Situations Department, local executive bodies and military unit 28237 of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Emergency Situations are involved in extinguishing the fire.
Presidential criticism
Earlier, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticized subsoil users and the situation with waste landfills in Kazakhstan. According to him, fires regularly occur at solid household waste landfills, so this issue must be resolved urgently and definitively.