Lightning sparks 800-plus fires in California
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gwSSrT7-LciDlr1 [2008-6-26]
Tag : lighting protection
By MARCUS WOHLSEN – 1 day ago
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — More than 840 wildfires sparked by an"unprecedented" lightning storm are burning across NorthernCalifornia, alarming the governor and requiring the help offirefighters from Nevada and Oregon.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was told late Sunday eveningthat the state had 520 fires, and he found it "quite shocking" thatby Monday morning the number had risen above 700.
Moments later, a top state fire official standing atSchwarzenegger's side offered a grim update. The figure wasactually 842 fires, said Del Walters, assistant regional chief ofthe California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. All buta couple were in the northern part of the state.
"This is an unprecedented lightning storm in California, that itlasted as long as it did, 5,000 to 6,000 lightning strikes,"Walters said. "We are finding fires all the time."
Two of the state's biggest fires had each charred nearly 6 squaremiles. One in Napa County quickly moved into Solano County, andthreatened about 250 homes about 40 miles southwest of Sacramento,said Kevin Colburn, a spokesman for the California Department ofForestry and Fire Protection. It was 60 percent contained.
The other, in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest about 160 milesnorth of Sacramento, threatened about 1,200 homes.
Out-of-state assistance, mostly firefighting aircraft, arrived fromNevada and Oregon in response to weekend requests. Schwarzeneggersaid he had enlisted the help "because you can never prepare for500 or 700 or 800 fires all at the same time."
Part of the reason for the swelling number of wildfires was thatlocal and state officials were still counting after fiercethunderstorms Friday night touched off the blazes.
"We didn't get real lucky with this lighting storm," Walters said."It wasn't predicted — which often happens with these stormsthat come in off the Pacific, there's no history of the weather asit approaches the shore — and so we got hammered."
In Mendocino County alone there were 110 fires, with just 17contained.
Along the coast in Los Padres National Forest, a 2,000-acrewildfire burning south of Big Sur since Saturday forced theevacuations of 75 homes and businesses, destroyed one house andthreatened hundreds of others.
It also led to an emergency airlift Sunday of eight endangeredCalifornia condors. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters transported theseven juveniles and one adult bird from a wildlife center to theMonterey Airport.
A second fire in Los Padres burned more than 57,000 acres and hasinjured nine firefighters.
In New Mexico, crews dropped 11,500 chemical balls injected withantifreeze to try to ignite unburned vegetation and halt a blazethat has charred more than 49,000 acres, largely on grazingallotments on federal land.
Lightning sparked the fire Tuesday in the Lincoln National Forestabout 20 miles southwest of Hope. It was not threatening anystructures.
"The ranchers have already moved a lot of the cattle that were outthere," U.S. Forest Service fire information officer Deanna Youngersaid. The grazing areas "will be the main loss," she said.
By MARCUS WOHLSEN – 1 day ago
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — More than 840 wildfires sparked by an"unprecedented" lightning storm are burning across NorthernCalifornia, alarming the governor and requiring the help offirefighters from Nevada and Oregon.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was told late Sunday eveningthat the state had 520 fires, and he found it "quite shocking" thatby Monday morning the number had risen above 700.
Moments later, a top state fire official standing atSchwarzenegger's side offered a grim update. The figure wasactually 842 fires, said Del Walters, assistant regional chief ofthe California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. All buta couple were in the northern part of the state.
"This is an unprecedented lightning storm in California, that itlasted as long as it did, 5,000 to 6,000 lightning strikes,"Walters said. "We are finding fires all the time."
Two of the state's biggest fires had each charred nearly 6 squaremiles. One in Napa County quickly moved into Solano County, andthreatened about 250 homes about 40 miles southwest of Sacramento,said Kevin Colburn, a spokesman for the California Department ofForestry and Fire Protection. It was 60 percent contained.
The other, in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest about 160 milesnorth of Sacramento, threatened about 1,200 homes.
Out-of-state assistance, mostly firefighting aircraft, arrived fromNevada and Oregon in response to weekend requests. Schwarzeneggersaid he had enlisted the help "because you can never prepare for500 or 700 or 800 fires all at the same time."
Part of the reason for the swelling number of wildfires was thatlocal and state officials were still counting after fiercethunderstorms Friday night touched off the blazes.
"We didn't get real lucky with this lighting storm," Walters said."It wasn't predicted — which often happens with these stormsthat come in off the Pacific, there's no history of the weather asit approaches the shore — and so we got hammered."
In Mendocino County alone there were 110 fires, with just 17contained.
Along the coast in Los Padres National Forest, a 2,000-acrewildfire burning south of Big Sur since Saturday forced theevacuations of 75 homes and businesses, destroyed one house andthreatened hundreds of others.
It also led to an emergency airlift Sunday of eight endangeredCalifornia condors. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters transported theseven juveniles and one adult bird from a wildlife center to theMonterey Airport.
A second fire in Los Padres burned more than 57,000 acres and hasinjured nine firefighters.
In New Mexico, crews dropped 11,500 chemical balls injected withantifreeze to try to ignite unburned vegetation and halt a blazethat has charred more than 49,000 acres, largely on grazingallotments on federal land.
Lightning sparked the fire Tuesday in the Lincoln National Forestabout 20 miles southwest of Hope. It was not threatening anystructures.
"The ranchers have already moved a lot of the cattle that were outthere," U.S. Forest Service fire information officer Deanna Youngersaid. The grazing areas "will be the main loss," she said.
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