A barrage of lightning on Saturday night ignited 17 wild land fires in the Truckee Meadows. Even though those fires have been stomped out, Reno Public Radio’s Anh Gray reports that the region isn’t clear of fire danger yet.
Fire Chief Charles Moore of theTruckee Meadows Fire Protection District says his crews were quite busy over the weekend when more than 5,000 lightning strikes hit northwest Nevada. His crews have put out those fires, but Moore expects additional fires to break-out.
"Lightning will hit vegetation and will actually cause the root systems to smolder," Moore says. "When we get hot and dry weather that follows, we'll see fires break out anywhere from two to seven days after the lightning has come through.”
Alex Hoon is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Reno. He says local weather conditions aren’t likely to improve in the next few weeks.
“We’re expecting above normal fire activity through the month of August and into September especially up in the Sierra,” Hoon says.
Hoon says that by Friday, there’s a chance for thunderstorms with lightning to hit the region with the potential to ignite more fires.