FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) — Wildfires continue to rage across California Monday.
Thousands of lightning strikes last week resulted in hundreds of fires.
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Approximately 1.1 million acres of land has burned in the state and nearly 14,000 firefighters are working around the clock to fight the blazes.
Two extremely large fires have proven difficult to contain.
Lake Beryessa last night #LNUlightningcomplexfire pic.twitter.com/0k6hw9vr1V
— César López Carrasco (@CesarHn95) August 22, 2020
The LNU Lightning Complex Fire has scorched 350,030 acres in the northern Bay Area and Central Valley and it is 22% contained.
The SCU Lightning Complex Fire, which is east of San Jose, has burned 347,196 acres and it is 10% contained.
According to CAL FIRE records, the LNU Lightning Complex has become one of the largest wildfires in California history, second to a complex in NorCal in 2018.
A reader asked me to check on his grandpa’s house, so I went up today really hoping to send a photo of it intact. Sadly, that didn’t happen. It’s so hard seeing people’s family homes and gathering places reduced to rubble. #WalbridgeFire #LNULightingComplex #Healdsburg pic.twitter.com/7Rz7Jhzu1Q
— Marisa Kendall (@MarisaKendall) August 23, 2020
The SCU lightning complex now ranks third.
Unfortunately there isn’t a clear end in sight for the wildfires across California.
-CAL FIRE says they've had 2,700 more wildfires this year than last year at this point in the season.
-There were nearly 300 lightning strikes across CA overnight
-14,000 firefighters working right now#LNULightningComplex #CZUAugustLightningComplex #SCULightningComplex pic.twitter.com/3urYwvuYUx— Eric Shackelford (@ABC7Shack) August 24, 2020
The forecast calls for more thunderstorms but with very little rain.
This could spark more fires for the drought stricken state.
Officials are urging residents in those areas to be on high alert in case they have to flee their homes due to lightning sparking a fire.
Residences of California are also dealing with extremely poor air quality.
It has been the worst air quality in the world since about Friday.
The poor air quality has expanded to neighboring states such as Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado and New Mexico.
Thick smoke will continue to blanket the Central California Interior this Monday. More smoke will be generated from area wildfires to maintain the thick smoke and associated poor air quality for several more days. #CaliforniaWildFire pic.twitter.com/mB71P8pewx
— NWS Hanford (@NWSHanford) August 24, 2020
The thick smoke is being carried in the atmosphere and believe it or not, some of the smoke will venture to northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio.
You may have noticed a bit of a haze in the sky late Sunday which was due to the California wildfires.
We will continue to see a bit of a haze in the sky through the middle of the week.
It’ll be nothing compared to what the folks on the west coast are dealing with.
