As of August 10, 10,000 firefighters continued to battle 17 individual fires throughout California. The continuing heatwave and in Northern California thunder strikes continue to make their job difficult. There have been brief moments of relief firefighters. At night temperatures have cooled down slightly and high humidity in Northern California has aided their efforts but so far the fires are only about one quarter contained.
The risk of dry thunderstorms and dry lightning continues to elevate the fire danger. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of California due to potential dry lightning and gusty winds.
Over the weekend there have been several thousand lightning strikes, especially across the Sierra and Central Coast. The sparks from a lightning strike can smolder for several hours or days before they get enough heat and energy to spread into a wildfire. This means the risk for wildfires continues even after the storms have passed. Everyone is encouraged to report a potential blaze as soon as it is sighted.
With fire activity remaining high, CAL FIRE is asking all residents and visitors to California to be extra cautious in the outdoors. Nearly 95 percent of all wildfires that CAL FIRE responds to are caused by the activity of people. One Less Spark this week means One Less wildfire. Learn more at www.ReadyForWildfire.org.
