Wednesday afternoon turned out to be another day of widespread lightning strikes throughout southern Oregon and northern California as thunderstorms stretched up from Siskiyou and Trinity counties. Red Flag Warnings and Heat Advisories issued by the National Weather Service continue through Thursday across much of the region.
As of latest reports late Wednesday evening, eight new fires were reported by the Siskiyou County Office of Emergency Services with three of those newly reported fires being detected near Happy Camp in the areas of Pyramid Peak.
The Illinois Valley Fire District responded to a reported lightning strike into the trees near Selma early Wednesday evening, and responding units arrived on scene with a State Brush Truck attacking the fire.
The fire was quickly contained to the tree and extinguished and as all units cleared, Illinois Valley Fire District and the Oregon Department of Forestry began searching for another reported
lightning strike on Lakeshore Dr., however, nothing was found on that incident.
Rural Metro Fire reported that as of 11:00pm Wednesday evening, 27 fires that have popped up so far from the storm that passed through Josephine County are mainly located well above homes in the mountains north of Merlin.
