The Government of Kazakhstan allocated 623 million tenge for the purchase of equipment for fighting wildfires

The occurrence of large forest fires on the territory of Kazakhstan is becoming an increasingly significant and urgent problem. Taking into account the unpredictable nature of nature and the experience of the past years, the government is strengthening measures to ensure fire protection of citizens and property before the upcoming fire-hazardous period. This was reported in the press service of the Prime Minister. According to the new decree, more than 623 million tenge will be allocated from the government reserve for the purchase of 26 new external-mounted spillway devices for helicopters involved in the elimination of natural and man-made emergencies. They will be used both in the periphery of cities and in remote, hard-to-reach areas of the republic. With the help of additional devices capable of taking 5 tons of water in 10-15 seconds and draining it in 6 seconds, aviation will be able to quickly cover large areas of forest area with fire extinguishing liquid," the government said in a statement. Along with this, the rescuers' fleet is replenished with Mi-8 helicopters that have proven their effectiveness, adapted to the tasks of the Ministry of Emergency Situations: firefighting, evacuation of the population from dangerous zones, etc. In general, these measures will significantly increase the operational capabilities of special services in the fight against wildfires," the press service noted. Recall that the elimination of a large natural fire in the Abai region is currently underway. At the moment, extinguishing is being carried out at three sites using aviation and automotive equipment. In total, more than 600 personnel, more than 130 pieces of equipment, 1 fire train, also 2 helicopters "Kazaviaspas", 1 "Kazavialesohrani" and 1 Ministry of Defense are involved in extinguishing the fire. To date, 169 (221 in total) discharges of 422.5 tons of water have been carried out. At the moment, there is no threat to human settlements. The total gorenje area is about 3500 hectares.