Fire in East Kazakhstan almost killed 25 people

A forest fire raging for the third day in the Beskaragai district of the East Kazakhstan region nearly killed 25 foresters, Khabar 24 correspondent reports. Caught in a fiery trap, they were saved thanks to the ability to act cohesively in emergency situations. They managed to stop the spread of fire in the pine forest, but it is too early to talk about complete elimination.

Kairat Khasenov, head of the Semey Orman enterprise:

- While extinguishing the fire, we did not notice how it got dark, and the wind suddenly changed direction. Therefore, they fell into a fire trap. Miraculously got out of the fire. 400 people fight with fire without sleep and rest. To eliminate the fire, the military of the Kokshetau garrison and the regional National Guard were involved, as well as 110 pieces of equipment, two Mi-2 and Mi-8 helicopters. At a time, up to 10 tons of water is discharged from the air onto a burning forest.

Asem Utesheva, correspondent:
- Now you see the operational headquarters unfolding behind me.” This is only a quarter of the special equipment that is involved in extinguishing a fire. Cars come here to refuel and water and drive to the scene of the fire.
Alexander Vershinin, head of the department of the enterprise "Semey ormany":
- The spread of fire is stopped. Work is being done with him inside, retouching. Yesterday was, of course, a difficult day. The fire due to the strong wind and high temperature was riding. Today it is planted. We work with him inside. Dry and windy weather interferes with fire fighters. And because of the heavy smoke, it is difficult to identify new sources of ignition. But, most importantly, the fire does not threaten the inhabitants of nearby villages.
Andrei Konshu, commander of the eastern aviation link of the State Aviation Unitary Enterprise "Kazavialesoohrana”:
- The ground services, also the aviation ones, quickly worked. We worked with a spillway device, carried out the discharge of water on two helicopters. We carried out 25 discharges with a volume of 2.5 tons each, we also participated in the Mi-26T helicopter, it has currently carried out 12 discharges of 15 tons each.
According to preliminary estimates, the fire has already captured 2300 hectares of forest. Experts suggest that the human factor became the cause of the fire.

Authors: Asem Utesheva, Medet Omirkhanov.
https://24.kz/ru/news/social/item/391407-pozhar-v-vko-edva-ne-unes-zhizni-25-chelovek