- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Thousands of strikes from overnight lightning storms spark wildland fires across North State
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A spectacular overnight lightning storm that moved over Northern California sparked more than 50 fires, fire officials said Monday.
State, local and federal officials said numerous lightning strikes occurred around Lake and its neighboring counties and other parts of Northern California.
A Monday afternoon report from Cal Fire said nearly 6,000 strikes had been recorded over the previous 24-hour period, with those strikes igniting more than 50 small fires in the state responsibility area throughout Northern California.
Of those, 20 were located in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, with the largest at four acres, followed by 20 fires in the Tehama-Glenn Unit, where the largest measured two acres; 11 fires in the Butte unit; and two fires in the Lassen-Modoc-Plumas Unit.
Mendocino National Forest spokesperson Tamara Schmidt told Lake County News that the forest had recorded hundreds of strikes within its boundaries, with the situation still being assessed, and no report on fires that had resulted in the forest's bounds.
Firefighters began responding to the lightning fires beginning early Monday morning.
In a fire that was outside of Cal Fire's jurisdiction, Lakeport Fire personnel were dispatched to a small wildland fire between Ackley Road and Highway 175 at about 6 a.m.
Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells said a lightning strike caused the fire.
“A walnut tree got hit,” he said.
That led to the grass around the tree's base igniting, he said.
It was a small spot, which Wells said was quickly extinguished.
Later in the morning, Lakeport Fire sent an engine to assist with a fire in the Mendocino National Forest's Horse Mountain area. That engine returned late in the afternoon.
Just before 6:30 a.m., firefighters were dispatched to two other lightning fires, one on Elk Mountain Road north of Upper Lake, and one on Clover Valley Road, northeast of Upper Lake, according to reports from the scene.
The Upper Lake fires were among the 20 blazes resulting from the storm and located in Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, which covers the state responsibility area in Lake, Colusa, Sonoma and Solano counties. The fires all were estimated to have begun before 1 a.m.
At about the same time as the Upper Lake fires were dispatched early Monday, firefighters responded to a blaze on Leesville-Ladoga Road, west of Williams in Colusa County, according to Cal Fire.
Early Monday morning, firefighters also had been dispatched to 13 fires in Sonoma County in Cal Fire jurisdiction, including eight fires off Highway 128 in the Geyserville/Knights Valley area; two in the Chalk Hill Road area northeast of Windsor; one fire on Mountain Home Ranch Road west of Calistoga; one fire at the Sea Ranch Golf Course; and one fire on Mohrhardt Ridge, located northwest of Cazadero.
In Solano County, Cal Fire said there were four lightning-caused fires in its jurisdiction, including two on Pleasant Valley Road, northwest of Vacaville; one one Quail Canyon Road and Pleasant Valley, northwest of Vacaville; and one fire on Cantelow Road, north of Vacaville.
Cal Fire said 13 of the 20 fires it was overseeing were 100-percent contained by mid-afternoon Monday, with the largest fire reaching a total of two acres. No structures were reported damaged or destroyed, there were no injuries and roadways in the affected areas remained open.
Firefighters are continuing to actively work the remaining spot wildland fires in the court counties, but Cal Fire said the work has been made more challenging by the fires' location in remote, difficult-to-access areas.
Approximately 17 fire engines, two fire crews and 100 personnel were committed to the incidents on Monday, with additional resources ordered and en route, Cal Fire said.
The agency did not have an estimate for when all of the fires would be fully contained.
Cal Fire said all of the fires remain under investigation.
A June 2008 lightning storm with thousands of strikes ignited hundreds of fires around the region, including fires in the Mendocino National Forest and neighboring Mendocino County, as Lake County News has reported.
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