11,000 lightning strikes ignite hundreds of fires in California, USA
Tens of thousands were forced to flee their homes, while dozens of other homes were consumed in fires in California, on Wednesday, after lightning strikes ignited hundreds of rapidly spreading fires.
The authorities stated that California suffered nearly 11,000 lightning strikes within 72 hours in the worst storm of its kind in more than ten years, causing 367 fires, more than 20 of which were large fires.
Forestry and Fire Protection Department spokesman Will Bowers said forced evacuation orders had been issued for thousands of people in an area that witnessed a series of nine wind-fueled fires, sparked by lightning on Monday.
In central California, the administration said a helicopter crashed during a firefighting mission to dump water in Fresno County, about 258 km south of San Francisco, killing the pilot.
She added that, to the north of that region, wind-fueled fires over an area of more than 46,000 acres near Fairfield and Vacaville raged in the hills and mountains overnight, destroying at least 50 homes and buildings, and damaging 50 others.