California’s Lightning Fires Barely Contained

By Anastacia Mott Austin

More than 800 fires sparked by lightning continue to burn in northern California, many of them classified as "unattended," as fire crews face manpower shortages against such a widespread catastrophe.

Most of the fires began on Saturday, and were reportedly caused by lightning strikes in unusually dry grass conditions. The region has received only a tenth of its normal rainfall for the spring season, leaving parched grasslands that are usually just beginning to lose their spring green.

In addition, the season for thunderstorms doesn’t usually begin until much later in the summer. The combination of matchstick-dry grass and early, dry lightning storms proved perfect for creating ideal conditions for mass wild fires.

"You're looking at a pattern that's climatologically rare," said John Juskie, a representative of the National Weather Service. "We typically don't see this happen at this time of summer."

In fact, the state declared an official drought after one of the driest spring seasons ever. The scenario of multiple fast-burning wildfires is just the kind of thing state officials were hoping to avoid.

Local meteorologists say that the dry thunderstorms may have unleashed as many as 8,000 lightning strikes across the northern region, and the fires have now burned close to 100,000 acres across the area.

Residents are being cautioned to stay indoors, as nearly half the state is blanketed by thick, hazy smoke, especially in areas near the fires or in low-lying valleys.

The air quality in many locations is reportedly about five times more unhealthy than normal, with many people complaining of burning throats, irritated eyes, and asthma complications.

Folks are also being cautioned to be extra vigilant with potentially dangerous activities, like backyard fireworks and cigarettes. Campfires have been strictly outlawed at any national parks remaining open for camping.

"It's just extremely, extremely dry," said Daniel Berlant, a representative from the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "That means any little spark has the potential to cause a large fire. The public needs to be extra cautious because we don't need any additional wildfires."

With limited manpower, firefighters are doing the best they can to contain the most dangerous of the fires, and have been forced to simply ignore others as they burn "unattended."

Fire crews have been arriving from Nevada, Oregon, and other states to lend a hand, but there is simply so much fire to cover, some of the fires will still have no one to fight them.

So far, the largest fires have been raging in Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Butte, Monterey, and Solano counties.

Officials remain worried that if it’s this bad already, the dry conditions will only make the situation worse for the coming months.

"This doesn't bode well for the fire season," said Ken Clark, a southern California meteorologist. "We're not even into the meat of the fire season at this point, and the brush is extremely dry."

Added Clark, "It's not going to get any better, it's going to get worse."