Rural firefighters in the village of Sovetskoye, Magzhan Zhumabayev district, North Kazakhstan region (NKR) had to use an ordinary log to prop up a component of a fire tanker while extinguishing a fire. The vehicle is around 40 years old, and the nearest professional fire brigades are more than 50 kilometres away.
HOW THE FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE
According to the Instagram page of the National Social Democratic Party (NSDP) for the NKR, footage from the scene of the fire shows the condition of the rural tanker. The vehicle has a rusty body and a worn-out interior, and one of the components of the water supply system underneath is propped up with a wooden log.
At the same time, local residents have no complaints about the firefighters themselves. They tried to tackle the fire with the equipment available. It is its technical condition that raises questions.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FIRE ENGINE
The tanker does not belong to units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MES) and is on the balance sheet of the local akimat. Maintenance, repair and renewal of the vehicle are provided by the local authorities.
The situation is complicated by the remoteness of the village. The nearest professional fire crews are located in Bulayevo and Vozvyshenka, more than 50 kilometres from Sovetskoye.
THE FIRE ENGINE HAS ALREADY BROKEN DOWN BEFORE
Problems with this vehicle have arisen before. In September 2025, during a fire in a residential building, the rural tanker, manufactured in the 1980s, was unable to respond due to a breakdown.
Residents had to wait about an hour for the district firefighters to arrive. During that time, the residential building with an area of 92 square metres burned down completely.
Before the rescuers arrived, villagers tried to extinguish the fire themselves, including with the help of a tractor belonging to a local limited liability partnership (LLP).
There is no information in the published materials about the timeframe for repairing or replacing the fire tanker.
