Perilous Times and Climate Change
Thousands of weekend lightning strikes spark wildfires throughout
California
Written by Elizabeth Larson
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – State fire officials said Monday that dozens of
fires around northeastern California were ignited over the weekend by
thousands of lightning strikes.
Since Saturday, more than 4,000 lightning strikes across several
counties northeast California sparked 33 fires in Cal Fire's
jurisdiction, with more than 250 acres burned, the agency said Monday
afternoon.
The US Forest Service reported another 78 lightning-sparked fires have
burned 115 acres in its jurisdiction.
In Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction, there was the Constantia
Fire, located in Lassen County under BLM's Carson City District, which
had burned 1,700 acres and was 10 percent contained Monday, with one
home and several outbuildings destroyed, the agency's Susanville
Interagency Fire Center reported.
The Potato Fire in Mono County, also under BLM jurisdiction, had burned
610 acres and was 60-percent contained, with full containment expected
Tuesday, the BLM said.
Most of the fire activity was taking place in Lassen, Shasta and
Siskiyou counties, Cal fire reported. Lassen had 27 fires and 250 acres
burned, Shasta had two fires totaling less than an acre of burned land
and four fires had burned an additional two acres in Siskiyou.
The largest blaze, the Russell Fire, is located in Lassen County, east
of Straylor Lake in the Bieber area, where 14 other lightning-caused
fires were reported, according to Cal Fire. It was burning in timber,
juniper and brush.
By Monday evening the Russell Fire had burned 250 acres with 30-percent
containment. Cal Fire was leading the effort along with the US Forest
Service, BLM and California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation. Nearly 200 firefighters were on scene, along with 13
engines, eight hand crews, one helicopter, six bulldozers and seven
water tenders.
Lakeport Fire Protection Chief Ken Wells, the county's operations area
coordinator on fire incidents, said Monday afternoon that local
jurisdictions like Lake County's fire districts haven't yet received a
call to send resources.
Cal Fire urged residents around the state to be particularly cautious
now as crews are busy working on the lightning fires.