This article notes:
"Farmers often light fires in the spring to clear vegetation, and a combination of high temperatures and strong winds has caused some fires to burn out of control."

It's interesting that the media has no problem blaming farmers in Siberia for exacerbating the fire problem but when farmers in Australia do exactly the same thing there's absolute radio silence.

It's a good example of the distorted versions of the truth we get fed (message management) that are tailored to appease pressure groups.