A forest fire started at 3:00 p.m. on April 23 at Baidaulet forestry of the Semey Ormany state natural reserve, Toppress.kz correspondent reports citing Press Secretary of the Forestry and Wildlife Committee Saken Dildakhmet. Despite ongoing fire-fighting operations, the fire kept spreading fast, growing six times to almost 2,000 hectares overnight.
As of 07:40 a.m. April 24, the fire has reached an estimated 2,000 hectares in size. At the moment we can not determine the exact size of areas covered by forests due to heavy smoke, Dildakhmet said.
As reported earlier, Mi-26T and Mi-8 helicopters have been engaged in fire fighting activities. Being the world’s largest helicopter, Mi-26T can carry up to 15 tons of water.
So far, the Interior Ministry’s Committee for Emergency Situations has engaged 88 vehicles and 293 personnel members to battle the wildfire in East Kazakhstan.
