Black smoke billowed from a 25-story apartment building in Krasnoyarsk as fire spread along the exterior of the building.
A witness told the Siberian Times that the fire started on a lower floor and spread up the building.
“The house has a vinyl siding and plastic-furnished balconies. This is what is burning,” Elena Yastrebkova, spokeswoman for the local office of the Emergencies Ministry, said.
Photos from the scene show helicopters making water drops as the fire spread to the upper floors.
About 100 firefighters responded to the scene, BBC reported.