Lightning sparks 800-plus fires in California

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 24 (Agencies): More than 840 wildfires sparked by an "unprecedented" lightning storm are burning a swath of Northern California, alarming the governor and requiring the help of firefighters from Nevada and Oregon. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was told late Sunday evening that the state had 520 fires, and he found it "quite shocking" that by Monday morning the number had risen above 700.

Moments later, a top state fire official standing at Schwarzenegger's side offered a grim update: The figure was actually 842 fires, said Del Walters, assistant regional chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. All but a couple were in the northern part of the state.

"This is an unprecedented lightning storm in California, that it lasted as longas it did, 5,000 to 6,000 lightning strikes," Walters said. "We are finding fires all the time."

Out-of-state assistance, mostly firefighting aircraft, arrived from Nevada and Oregon after being requested over the weekend. Schwarzenegger said he had enlisted the help "because you can never prepare for 500 or 700 or 800 fires all at the same time."

Part of the reason for the swelling number of wildfires was that local and state officials were still counting after fierce thunderstorms Friday night touched off the blazes.