In the Abai region on 22 September the spread of a natural fire, which has been extinguished since 20 September in hard-to-reach mountainous terrain, was stopped. The fire had previously spread to the territory of the «Tarbagatai» state national nature park.
WHERE EXTINGUISHING CONTINUES
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES), the ignition of dry grass and shrubs occurred on 20 September in the Ayagoz rural district. By 18:30 the same day, the fire had spread to the territory of the «Tarbagatai» national park.
According to the MES, there is no threat to settlements.
HOW MANY FORCES WERE DEPLOYED
By 12:00 on 22 September 284 people and 26 units of equipment from forest protection, the Semey Ormany state forest nature reserve, the MES and local executive bodies were involved in extinguishing the fire.
Two aircraft from the MES «Kazaviaspas» and the Border Service of the National Security Committee (BS NSC) were deployed for reconnaissance and extinguishing.
By 22 September aviation had carried out 22 water drops, directing 59 tonnes of water onto the hotspots. Specialists are now continuing to extinguish smouldering areas.
WHY THE FIRE IS DIFFICULT TO LIQUIDATE
The main difficulty is related to natural conditions. Equipment cannot move freely through mountainous terrain to individual hotspots, so services use aviation for reconnaissance and water drops.
CONTEXT
On 13 September 2026, five forest fires were registered on the territory of Kazakhstan's state forest fund. However, these data do not reflect all natural fires over a 24-hour period.
The FBRK editorial team checked data from NASA FIRMS satellite monitoring and counted at least 13 large hotspots on the same day — predominantly steppe fires, with a total area of approximately 2870 ha.
On 16 September 2026, a natural fire was localised in the East Kazakhstan region (EKR) on the territory of the Markakol forestry enterprise. Ground forces and aviation were deployed to extinguish it.