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Oregon fire crews on high alert after thousands of lightning strikes

Public Domain

The Oregon State Fire Marshal is pre-positioning fire crews in Deschutes and Klamath counties this week, due to the threat of lightning-caused wildfires across central and southern Oregon.

Between Tuesday night and Wednesday, more than 5,200 lightning strikes were reported throughout the state.

According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, the lightning started 92 small fires that were roughly 1 acre each. No new large fires were started.

But as temperatures will rise over the next few days, the fire marshal’s office says there’s a big chance of holdover fires.

A task force will be staged in Deschutes County starting Thursday to quickly respond to the potential fires. Another crew will be mobilized in Klamath County starting on Saturday.

Copyright 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting