Lightning takes Northern California fires from bad to worse

A record lack of rainfall, severely dry vegetation and uncharacteristically windy weather have combined to create tinderbox conditions across Northern California.

The spark arrived Saturday as an unusual weather pattern sent dry lightning flashing to the ground -- again and again and again. More than 8,000 lightning strikes touched earth, according to the National Weather Service.

Fire crews, already weary from battling recent blazes that charred more than 80 homes near Chico and claimed dozens more in the Santa Cruz Mountains, were sent scurrying all over Northern California in an attempt to prevent property loss.

By most accounts, the effort was a success. Although 10 coastal homes were lost to flames this weekend north of Watsonville, property loss was relatively low amid fires that burned tens of thousands of acres of grassland, brush and forest.

Early preparation has been the key, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. More crews are on hand this year because of the dry conditions, he said. And with forecasters predicting the possibility of lightning strikes, fire chiefs had shifted more forces from Southern California.

"There's been some good work done the last couple of days," Berlant said.

But no one was declaring victory.

"We don't have a lid on it yet," said David Shew, a battalion chief with the forestry department. "We've got a lot of forces deployed out there, and some of these fires are going to continue growing."

Even when the latest fires are extinguished, the conditions will remain ripe for more of the same, warned John Juskie, a National Weather Service science officer.

"In historic terms, we're at record dry levels," Juskie said.

This spring, just 0.17 of an inch of rain fell in Sacramento, breaking the record of 0.55 on an inch set in 1934, he said.

The lack of precipitation has left outback and urban vegetation ready to burn. In most areas of the north, the grasses and brush are as dry now as they normally would be in October. Moisture content is less than 5%, compared with about 20% normally for this time of year, fire officials say.