Military aviation deployed to fight forest fire in Abai region

Efforts to extinguish the fire are being complicated by an extremely high fire hazard level, hot weather, and difficult terrain. The Ministry of Defense has deployed personnel and assets alongside the units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations to combat the blaze.

Army aviation crews equipped with helicopter buckets are bearing a significant share of the workload, targeting the most challenging areas. The military pilots are dropping water directly onto the fire zones to clear the way for ground units to operate effectively.

At the moment, the aircrews have completed over 30 water drops on the hot spots, delivering 57 tons of water. The aerial intervention has successfully slowed the spread of the fire and created the necessary conditions for ground crews to contain the blaze.

Two Mi-17 helicopters and one Mi-171Sh helicopter from the Ministry of Defense are currently deployed in the emergency response. Working alongside units from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other emergency services, they continue their efforts to extinguish the fire and protect local communities and the forest.

The fire was reported on the morning of July 16 in the Kamyshenka Forestry within the Borodulikha branch of the nature reserve.

Later, 190 children and 20 adults were evacuated from a children’s summer camp located near the forest fire in the Borodulikha district of the Abai region.

By afternoon, the forest fire had expanded to 60 hectares (nearly 150 acres).

As Qazinform News Agency reported earlier, Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov had ordered Emergencies Minister Chingis Arinov and Ecology Minister Yerlan Nyssanbayev to travel immediately to the Abai region to coordinate firefighting efforts at the Semey Ormany Nature Reserve.