Thursday, August 21, 2014

California saw 163 new wildfires last week, most sparked by lightning

California firefighters responded to 163 new wildfires last week, most of them sparked by lightning in parched forest lands. The wildfires further stretched firefighting resources that have already been spread thin by fire activity across the state that has far exceeded what agencies experienced last year. The "substantial increase" in wildfire activity is mostly the result of ongoing “exceptional drought” conditions throughout the state, according to Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “Conditions across the state continue to be extremely dry and fire potential continues to be very high throughout California,” he said. This year, firefighters from Cal Fire have responded to 4,132 wildfires, which have scorched 80,634 acres...more

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