Over the past day, five wildfires were extinguished in the Karaganda region on a preliminary area of 90 hectares. Eight more fires are still being fought in the Shet, Bukhar-Zhyrau, and Karkaraly districts, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reports, according to infohub.kz.
The fires were caused by burning dry grass and shrubs in mountainous steppe terrain.
More than 500 people and 145 units of equipment from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and local executive bodies are involved in extinguishing the fires.
In the village of Besoba in the Karkaraly district, a Kazaviaspas helicopter of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with a water discharge device was used to fight the fire. Four water drops totaling 12 tons were carried out from the air.
Firefighting is complicated by difficult mountainous steppe terrain, hot and dry weather, and strong gusty winds.
An operational headquarters has been established at the Department of Emergency Situations of the Karaganda region to coordinate the work of the forces and means involved.
There is currently no threat to populated areas. Firefighting efforts continue around the clock.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that on September 7, four forest fires were registered in Kazakhstan — two in the Kostanay region, one in the East Kazakhstan region, and one in the Kokshetau National Park. All fires were localized and extinguished, preventing the spread of fire over a large area.