Specialists of the Almaty Aviation department of Kazavialesoohrana conducted training using helicopter technology, the correspondent of Khabar 24 reports. In the foothills of the Zailiyskiy Alatau, the growing season ends, the grass and shrubs dry up. An accidental fire in these places, caused by the fault of the population, can spread to the territory of the state forest fund. A Mi-8MTV helicopter takes off from the Burundai suburban airfield to one of the large lakes located northwest of Almaty. Here Kazavialesoohrana has an improvised training ground. Aerial firefighters must practice landing in hard-to-reach terrain from an aircraft. During the descent, a special roller device is used. The paratrooper himself chooses the mode in accordance with his own weight. The rope made of synthetic material can withstand a load of 900 kilograms. But the most difficult thing for an air firefighter is to psychologically cope with the situation. Not everyone is able to easily step into the void from the height of a 16-story building. The disembarkation is made in two approaches from 30 and 40 meters, respectively.
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. The same applies to summer residents who are in close proximity to the state forest fund. Now such a practice, to gather in a heap, quickly set fire, get rid of plant materials. But it all ends in tears. We always urge the population that conducts economic activities near the forest fund to be very careful in this regard. In the mountains of the Trans-Ili Alatau, large fires have already occurred in the past. As a rule, they are accompanied by enormous damage to the environment. The fire destroys the massifs of the relict Tien Shan spruce. One of these fires could not be extinguished for almost a month and a half. In the end, aviation coped with the fire. Water is discharged from the APU by a specialist from Kazavialesoohrana, who is on board the helicopter. He himself chooses the speed and height of the approach. The point of training is for the observer pilot to "target” the source of fire. The spillway is small, its maximum capacity is 5 tons. Cover the fire very accurately. In addition, the entry height must be sufficient so that the discharged water does not turn into a cloud of mist.
Sergey Polyakov, Head of the Aviation Fire Service of the Kazavialesoohrana State Enterprise:
- Our situation is more or less stable now. We attribute this to the fact that precipitation has passed. But it all dries up very quickly. Plants have ceased to accumulate green mass and turn to dry. A little wind is enough and everything dries up in half a day, as if there was no rain. We now have the third grade out of five possible. And it will grow every day. Therefore, our service will work in maximum mode, meet this period. The fire hazardous period in the south-east of Kazakhstan will continue throughout September and most of October. There were also periods when natural fires for various reasons continued literally until the first snow. So, the most difficult days for Kazavialesoohrana are still ahead.
Authors: Grigory Bedenko, Mukhit Kudykbaev
https://24.kz/ru/news/social/item/421515-v-zailijskom-alatau-gotovyatsya-k-prirodnym-pozharam
