Lightning storms have sparked more than 100 new fires on the Willamette and Umpqua national forests since Saturday, with more lightning forecast through today.

About 75 of those fires are on the Willamette National Forest and all were initially pegged at less than an acre. Judith McHugh, spokeswoman for the Willamette, said crews and equipment are being sent to the fires but acknowledged that there are too many to attack all at once.

"We're very concerned that they stay small," she said. "We are having to prioritize. We have more fires than we have people, which is not necessarily uncommon when these lightning storms come through."

About 30 of the Willamette fires are in the northern region of the forest, outside the Detroit, Breitenbush and Marion Forks areas. Approximately 20 are in the central region above McKenzie Bridge, and a similar number are in the southern region.

No buildings were known to be threatened Monday afternoon. Although more lightning is expected, cooler weather should give crews a window to attack the fires before they get much bigger.

Liza Castleberry, Umpqua National Forest deputy fire staff officer, said the cooler weather will slow the fire's growth as compared to the last few days and allow firefighters to get into and battle the fires. However, on Monday morning fog covered a large part of the forest, making spotting new starts difficult.

Lightning also caused outages for Emerald People's Utility District customers Saturday evening and Sunday morning due.

Approximately 700 customers were affected in the Pleasant Hill and Coburg areas. EPUD crews replaced 10 damaged transformers and restored power within several hours. Work continues this morning to ensure no other damage was done.