California Wildfires Update: Northern California Fires Continue to Blaze

The pitfalls from thunderstorms that hit Northern California are giving firemen in the area just about all they can handle. Over the weekend, lightening strikes caused 34 fires to spark up, and all happened in one 24-hour period, according to official reports.

The frequency of lightning strikes is a bad for Northern California, and it seems to be a prediction of things to come.

The weekend saw 800 strikes, and although most did not result in fires, the trend will likely holdup for the coming months.  

"Knock on wood, we didn't get any large ones last week," Mathisen said. "We've been staffing a lot of lookouts to check."

The transition from July into August has brought more than a dozen fires that have pummeled more than 100,000 acres of Northern California land.

Natural fires have their place in nature, burning out the old and giving bring new life, but the recent drought has seriously damaged the forest. Without the help of firefighters it's unknown how many acres will go up in smoke.  

The fire rampage throughout the state has now prompted Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency, in the wake of California's worst drought on record.

The Lodge fire, which has already decimated more than 9,500 acres, is only 35 percent contained. The fire was started by lightning strikes and given fuel by the dry terrain. The fire was able break through firefighter lines, and now threatens to do even more damage.

So far, 11 firefighters have been injured during the blaze according to Cal Fire.

With no signs of stopping, firefighters have to pray for ideal weather to hopefully quell the blaze. Strong winds can aid wildfires in spreading faster than normal. 

The Beaver fire near San Francisco, was fueled by a thunderstorm that produced 35 mph winds. Three firefighters were forced to deploy their personal fire shelters as the flames burned right over them.

All three firemen survived the ordeal, and pulled back out of harms way due to the erratic fire conditions caused by the thunderstorm.