Thousands of lightning strikes sparked hundreds of fires in California

An airplane drops fire retardant.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

There are 367 separate fires now burning in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said on Wednesday, and many are believed to have been sparked by dry lightning strikes that have been hitting Northern and Central California since Sunday.

California officials said that over the last 72 hours, there have been about 10,849 lightning strikes in the state, the Los Angeles Times reports. One of the biggest blazes is the Hennessey fire in Napa County, which started on Monday. It has since spread to two other counties, Solano and Yolo, destroying 50 buildings, damaging 50 structures, and forcing thousands to evacuate.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.