MOSCOW, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Russia is experiencing its worst fire season in years as more than 2,000 hectares in Siberia were engulfed as of Wednesday, the government said.
The Russian forestry department said firefighters extinguished more than a dozen forest fires since Tuesday in Siberia. The situation, however, remains serious, reports Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti.
"There are 30 active forest fires covering an area of 2,650 hectares in the Karsnoyarsk and Tomsk regions as well as in the republics of Tuva and Khakassia," the department said.
The report adds that this year's wildfires are comparable to those reported in 2010.
Wildfires in Russia that year killed 62 people and burned more than 2 million hectares of land, causing concerns about the global supply of staple food crops such as grain. Those fires wiped out about one-quarter of Russia's total grain production.
The reports didn't indicate what crops, if any, were damaged by Siberian wildfires. More than 200,000 hectares of forested land in Siberia were burned down so far this year.
The United Nations last week reported the monthly food price index for July rose 6 percent in large part to weather-related issues.
