Reeds were burning in the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve. Various sources are publishing conflicting information about the causes of the fire and the area affected. Journalist and founder of FBRK Kirill Pavlov has uncovered the true scale of the fires in the Balkhash reserve.
The other day, information appeared on the website ‘Qazaqstan Garysh Sapary’ (QGS) stating that around 3,000 hectares of reeds were burning in the Ile-Balkhash reserve. After some time, as Tengrinews.kz reports, the information was deleted. However, the data remained in Google's cache.
Later, the media published reports that there was no open combustion in the reserve, and only smouldering of reeds was occurring in a marshy area of less than 30 hectares.
Meanwhile, FBRK founder Kirill Pavlov, using publicly available services, identified that the fire on the shores of Balkhash started as early as 11 June. According to his data, the fire affected an area of approximately 7,000 hectares.
In the provided image, it is clear that no smouldering was observed – distinct flames are visible. By 16 June, two areas were already burning. In the image, flames are also clearly visible to the naked eye.
Incidentally, the media reported that a special commission from the authorised agencies would determine the exact area of the fire. We eagerly await official statements based on the commission's findings.
It is worth noting that Pavlov previously reported a fire on the coast of the Caspian Sea in the Atyrau region. According to his data, reeds are burning on an area of approximately 750 hectares across three separate sites.
Even earlier, it was reported that a fire occurred in the Baiganin District of the Aktobe region, covering an area of about 30,000 hectares. In both cases, no official information was received from the authorised bodies.
Let us recall that last year a similar situation arose with conflicting statements about the area of a fire when a major fire occurred in the ‘Semey Ormany’ reserve in the Abai region. The fire then destroyed more than 63,000 hectares of unique relict pine forest. The damage exceeded 160 billion tenge.
Initially, it was reported that burning was occurring over an area of approximately 2,000 hectares. Later, it was stated that the preliminary area of the fire was 30,000 hectares. Meanwhile, Kirill Pavlov wrote that according to NASA data, the fire had spread over an area of almost 50,000 hectares.
We invite activists to join the fire monitoring effort and help preserve Kazakhstan's nature. The FBRK editorial board, for its part, is ready to demonstrate to colleagues the capabilities of OSINT in space monitoring and the use of data in investigative journalism. For this purpose, please contact our bot.