More than 800 wildfires burning in California

SAN FRANCISCO - Wildfires raged in California on Tuesday, as the state marked the one-year anniversary of the devastating Angora fire, a massive blaze southwest of Lake Tahoe that destroyed 254 homes and charred 3,100 acres.

An "unprecedented" lightning storm Friday was the source of more than 800 wildfires, from Mendocino County south to the Big Sur area in Monterey County.

At least 200 of the fires remained unattended Tuesday as the state's limited resources were directed at the most immediate threats.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared states of emergency in Monterey and Trinity counties and asked for help and equipment from neighboring states. Thousands of firefighters have been battling the blazes on the ground and from the air.

While crews were reporting progress against many of the blazes, they were told to expect the situation to deteriorate later in the week.  NBC Weatherplus meteorologist Jackie Meretsky said the forecast shows another series Thursday of so-called dry thunderstorms, the phenomenon that led to the lightning strikes over the weekend.

The dry thunderstorms, in which rain evaporates before it hits the ground but is still accompanied by lightning, could generate as many as 100 lightning strikes Thursday, Meretsky said.

Other states pitch in
Assistance from Nevada and Oregon, mostly firefighting aircraft, arrived Monday after being requested over the weekend. Schwarzenegger said he had enlisted the help "because you can never prepare for 500 or 700 or 800 fires all at the same time."

Oregon officials say more than 2,400 firefighters have been sent to Northern California. The thousands of lightning strikes that peppered California with fires also hit Oregon — but with far different results, an official said. Oregon had a cold, wet winter, so forests there are less combustible.

One of the fires started by weekend thunderstorms had already blackened more than 10,000 acres — nearly 16 square miles — in a rural area of Lake County, about 120 miles north of San Francisco. No homes had been destroyed, but officials said voluntary evacuations were in place for residents of 36 homes.

Schwarzenegger said he was told late Sunday evening that the state had 520 fires, and he found it "quite shocking" that by Monday morning the number had risen above 700.

Moments later, a top state fire official standing at Schwarzenegger's side offered a grim update: The figure was actually 842 fires, said Del Walters, assistant regional chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. All but a couple were in the northern part of the state.

"This is an unprecedented lightning storm in California, that it lasted as long as it did, 5,000 to 6,000 lightning strikes," Walters said. "We are finding fires all the time."

State ‘hammered’ by lightning storm
Part of the reason for the swelling number of wildfires was that local and state officials were still counting after the fierce thunderstorm Friday night that touched off the blazes.

Video   Lightning strikes spark California wildfires June 24: More than 840 wildfires are burning in Northern California. MSNBC's Chris Jansing talks with CAL FIRE's Daniel Berlant. MSNBC

"We didn't get real lucky with this lighting storm," Walters said. "It wasn't predicted — which often happens with these storms that come in off the Pacific, there's no history of the weather as it approaches the shore — and so we got hammered."

A blaze that started in Napa County moved into Solano County as it burned over more than 6 square miles. It was 60 percent contained, said Kevin Colburn, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

No homes have been destroyed, and voluntary evacuations about 40 miles southwest of Sacramento have been lifted.

A blaze that had charred nearly 6 square miles in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest about 160 miles north of Sacramento was a threat to about 1,200 homes and several youth camps.

In Mendocino County alone there were 110 fires, with just 17 contained.

Along the coast in the Los Padres National Forest, a 2,000-acre wildfire burning south of Big Sur since Saturday forced the evacuations of 75 homes and businesses, destroyed one house and threatened hundreds of others.

Slide show A look back at the Angora fire A stubborn wildfire destroyed 254 homes and charred 3,100 acres in June of 2007.

In Monterey County, a wildfire west of King City in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest was 66 percent contained and had burned about 90 square miles. That fire led to an emergency airlift Sunday of eight endangered California condors. Coast Guard helicopters carried the seven juveniles and one adult bird from a wildlife center to the Monterey Airport.

Also in Monterey County, a fire near the coast south of Big Sur was only 3 percent contained. It had consumed about 11 square miles acres since it was first reported Monday.

Officials evacuated eight homes in the Ponderosa Basin, near Fresno, as flames from the Oliver fire started moving toward them Tuesday morning.  Dozens of other residents were put on 15-minute evacuation preparation notice.

Smoke-filled air a hazard
The Sacramento region remained under a blanket of smoke Tuesday, leading health officials to urge the public to stay indoors as much as possible. 

Emergency responders said they had seen a rise in the severity of cases involving people with breathing-related illnesses.

"We've got people who normally have asthma; they're treating it on their own, and they're finding that the medications they have aren't working," said Sally Davis, a dispatch supervisor.  "And so we're finding that people are a little more critical when we get there than they normally would have been."

Sacramento officials issued an advisory to avoid outdoor activiites.  Officials urged local residents to windows closed and to stay indoors.

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