A large fire in the mountains of the Zailiyskiy Alatau was localized during a patrol of specialists from the Kazavialesoohrana department. It arose in the area of the settlement Talgar, Almaty region. The terrain there is inaccessible, so the paratroopers had to be dropped from a helicopter. The film crew "Khabar 24" was also on board. A fire in a mountainous area south of the Talgar regional center was discovered during an air patrol. The so-called counters were burning - high hills overgrown with tall grass and bushes. There are few trees here. Mainly the wild Sivers apple tree, wild apricot and in some places mountain aspen. It is extremely difficult to extinguish a fire due to the relief landscape. There are no roads and the slopes of the stalls are very steep. The fire occurred three kilometers from the border of the Ile-Alatau National Park. And there are already massifs of the Tien Shan spruce. So the specialists from Kazavialesoohrana arrived in time.
Sergey Polyakov, Head of the Aviation Fire Service of the Kazavialesoohrana State Enterprise:
- Agricultural work ends. Agricultural producers practice the so-called agricultural annealing. This is a direct danger to forest plantations, especially if the fields border on the state forest fund. We have repeatedly had cases when unauthorized annealing turned into fires. Nowadays the practice is to pile up, quickly set fire to, get rid of plant materials. But it all ends in tears. Fires in the mountains are usually caused by local livestock breeders. In this way they clear pastures. In most cases, fires quickly spiral out of control and wreak havoc on the environment.
For several hours, the paratroopers of "Kazavialesoohrana" localized the fire, preventing it from spreading to specially protected areas. Then the information was passed on to ground services in Talgar, which finally coped with the fire. Now specially protected natural areas in the mountains are patrolled daily. The situation in the region of the Kolsai lakes is of particular concern. The national park is located in the Kungey-Alatau mountain system. Previously, these very remote places from large cities were visited by very few people. But today the Kolsai National Park is experiencing a real tourist boom.
Grigory Bedenko, correspondent:
- Kolsai Lakes - the pearl of the Northern Tien Shan and a place of pilgrimage for Kazakh tourists. A forest fire in such places can be a real tragedy. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly control the territory of the national park with the help of aviation. The Kolsai National Park consists of four very beautiful mountain lakes. The most developed is the Lower Kolsai, where an asphalt road was laid some time ago. Middle Kolsai, the largest lake in the cascade, can only be reached on foot or on horseback. But there are many tourists there too. Upper Kolsai is closed, it is located in the border zone. The fourth lake is a very unusual body of water called Kaindy, which was formed as a result of the Kemin earthquake in 1911. A dirt road leads here.
Yakupzhan Ibragimov, observer pilot of the Almaty aviation department:
- Since our borders in Kazakhstan are closed, tourism within Kazakhstan is developing. Kolsai National Park, very beautiful places here. Lately a lot of people come. Today's flight was carried out, firstly, a raid, secondly, so that tourists do not violate the law and, thirdly, so that there are no fires. Now "Kazavialesoohrana” is entering a "hot” season. Dry grass, winds, lack of precipitation - natural factors are superimposed on anthropogenic ones. And this situation in mountainous areas will persist until the first snow. Although in the Northern Tien Shan there were cases when fires happened in winter.
Authors: Grigory Bedenko, Mukhit Kudykbaev
https://24.kz/ru/news/social/item/422793-krupnyj-pozhar-potushili-v-gorakh-zailijskogo-alatau
