Twit*MoBlog*Jott*digg*facebook*LinkEDIn*Connector

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1029285/Pictured-The-day-8-000-lightning-strikes-sparked-800-wildfires-northern-California.html

We typically don't see this happen at this time of summer," said John Juskie, a science officer with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

"To see 8,000, that's way up there on the scale."

Thousands of firefighters battled the blazes Tuesday from the ground and air.

The lightning-caused fires have scorched tens of thousands of acres nd forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes, though few buildings have been destroyed, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

"It's just extremely, extremely dry," Berlant said. "That means any little spark has the potential to cause a large fire. The public needs to be extra cautious because we don't need any additional wildfires."