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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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8,000 Lightning Bolts Spark California Fires

44,000 acres burn in 700 blazes

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(Newser) – Thousands of lightning strikes over a wide swath of Northern California ignited more than 700 wildfires that have burned some 44,000 tinder-dry acres of grassland, brush and forest. Firefighters managed to protect most homes in almost all of the fires. The historically bad fire season has been spurred by record low levels of rainfall and warm, flame-whipping winds.

Vegetation is already as dry as a typical October at the end of a long hot summer. "We don't have a lid on it yet," said a battalion chief with the forestry department. "We've got lots of forces deployed out there, and some of these fires are going to continue growing."  

A DC-10 Tanker drops fire retardant over a fire in Green Valley, Calif.
A DC-10 Tanker drops fire retardant over a fire in Green Valley, Calif.   (AP Photo/Eric Peralta)
A firefighter points to a fire burning west of King City, Calif.
A firefighter points to a fire burning west of King City, Calif.   (AP Photo/Monterey County Herald, Orville Myers)
San Ramon Valley Fire Dept. firefighter Ben Wyley, puts out hot spots with the help of a California Dept. of Corrections fire crew.
San Ramon Valley Fire Dept. firefighter Ben Wyley, puts out hot spots with the help of a California Dept. of Corrections fire crew.   (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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