More than 1,000 lightning strikes hit Oregon, wildfire count unknown

More than 1,100 bolts of lightning blasted Oregon between 8 a.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday, igniting new wildfires across the state.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — More than 1,100 bolts of lightning blasted Oregon between 8 a.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday, igniting new wildfires across the state.

The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center recorded 1,113 lightning strikes during the 24-hour period. Although the lightning is assumed to have started numerous fires, officials are unable to confirm how many fires are burning in Oregon as of Wednesday afternoon.

Oregon Department of Forestry Spokesperson Jessica Neujahr told KOIN 6 News that firefighters are working to respond to the unknown number of new fires.

“I don’t have a confirmation of how many lightning strikes we’ve had in the last 24 hours or how many of those resulted in fire starts yet due to resources being tied up with responding to the fires, but I can say that this lighting event has started multiple fires ranging from Southern Oregon over into Central Oregon,” Neujahr said.

According to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management’s “Fire and Hotspots Dashboard,” the number of wildfires burning in Oregon jumped from 27 to 70 in the past 24 hours. However, the ODEM was unable to confirm the accuracy of that number.

“With the number of lightning starts plus the current large fires in Oregon, our firefighters are working hard to detect, assess and extinguish these new starts as fast as possible,” Neujahr said. “Early detection is done through patrols, smoke detection cameras, and our multi-mission aircraft.”

The Oregon Department of Forestry confirmed that the new fires are straining resources as firefighters are already battling existing fires close to 100,000 acres in size in Northern, Central and Eastern Oregon. To make matters worse, more lightning is expected across the state on Wednesday afternoon and evening. A red flag warning remains in effect for Northern Oregon and most of Washington until 5 p.m.

“With this lightning event and the other large fires in the state, our resources are strained, so we are urging all Oregonians to practice wildfire prevention and to not bring fire hazards onto the landscape,” Neujahr said. “By reducing the number of human-caused fires we have to respond to, we’re able to focus our efforts on detecting and responding to these lightning-caused fires.”