Lightning ignited 22 new fires in the Prince George Fire Centre yesterday and more are expected due to the continued risk of lightning.
Additional fire fighting crews from around the province have arrived in the region to help with existing fires and expected lightning-caused fires. Two additional unit crews, comprising a total of 40 firefighters, are available for sustained action on larger fires. Five additional three-person initial attack crews are also standing by to respond to smaller fires and new fire starts.
Storms
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| ©Mark Dwyer / Taranaki Daily News |
| Mike Woodhead with his lightning-zapped computer gear after the weekend strike. |
Next time Taranaki man Mike Woodhead uses his computer he'll get a weather forecast first. A bolt of lightning which struck near his Ohangai home south-east of Hawera on Saturday night has put the 36-year-old local school caretaker on edge.
He was using the family computer with earphones on, his daughter Leah standing next to him, when there was a huge flash in the middle of a storm.
"I felt a shock which was 20 times worse than an electric fence pulse," he said. "I felt it hit my heart. I was worried it might stop beating," the Tiri Rd man said. "It went through me, through the couch and into my wife Ellen who was sitting on the couch."
People who believe bad things come in threes may have second thoughts about flying with Lan Chile after the airline suffered a second rare accident on its Sydney-Santiago run.
The airline made international headlines last year when flaming pieces of a re-entering satellite came within five nautical miles (9.2km) of an Airbus A340 travelling from Santiago to Auckland and Sydney.
And last week, lightning punched a hole in the nose of a Lan Chile Airbus carrying almost 300 people as it approached Auckland from Sydney. A New Zealand report quoted a witness as saying the strike caused a hole "the size of a dinner plate", although the plane landed safely.
The airline made international headlines last year when flaming pieces of a re-entering satellite came within five nautical miles (9.2km) of an Airbus A340 travelling from Santiago to Auckland and Sydney.
And last week, lightning punched a hole in the nose of a Lan Chile Airbus carrying almost 300 people as it approached Auckland from Sydney. A New Zealand report quoted a witness as saying the strike caused a hole "the size of a dinner plate", although the plane landed safely.
Firefighters are straining to put out a rash of wildfires sparked by lightning in Nassau and Clay counties.
Just days after putting out a 105-acre wildfire near Cedar Point and Pumpkin Hill roads in Nassau County, the state's Division of Forestry battled at least three fires over a total of about 30 acres Wednesday and Thursday. Lightning caused each of the fires, said Annaleasa Winter, a wildfire mitigation specialist for the Forestry Division.
Those come after lightning caused six fires over about 55 acres Tuesday in Clay County.
Just days after putting out a 105-acre wildfire near Cedar Point and Pumpkin Hill roads in Nassau County, the state's Division of Forestry battled at least three fires over a total of about 30 acres Wednesday and Thursday. Lightning caused each of the fires, said Annaleasa Winter, a wildfire mitigation specialist for the Forestry Division.
Those come after lightning caused six fires over about 55 acres Tuesday in Clay County.
A lightning strike started a fire yesterday that destroyed a strip shopping plaza near the University of Toledo as a line of thunderstorms swept across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan causing 10,000 customers to lose power, authorities said.
The plaza at 1205 Westwood Ave., just south of Dorr Street, housed a seasonal location of the tax service franchise, H&R Block, the clothing retailer, L.A. Collections, and the yet-to-open Wings Express restaurant.
The plaza at 1205 Westwood Ave., just south of Dorr Street, housed a seasonal location of the tax service franchise, H&R Block, the clothing retailer, L.A. Collections, and the yet-to-open Wings Express restaurant.
A lightning strike is to blame for a Washington, Illinois house fire this morning. No injuries were reported.
The fire at 301 Hale St. started about 3:30 a.m. after lightning hit a tree, causing the tree to split in half and fall on the house.
Before firefighters arrived, the homeowner, whose name was not immediately available, attempted to put out the blaze with an extinguisher and garden hose. It took firefighters another 20 minutes to douse the fire, which they were able to contain to an upstairs bedroom, Washington Assistant Fire Chief Randy Hurd said.
The fire at 301 Hale St. started about 3:30 a.m. after lightning hit a tree, causing the tree to split in half and fall on the house.
Before firefighters arrived, the homeowner, whose name was not immediately available, attempted to put out the blaze with an extinguisher and garden hose. It took firefighters another 20 minutes to douse the fire, which they were able to contain to an upstairs bedroom, Washington Assistant Fire Chief Randy Hurd said.
Rain and thunderstorms that passed through metro Atlanta early Sunday were blamed for a fire that severely damaged a Gwinnett County home.
Gwinnett fire officials believe a lightning strike ignited the roof of a two-story home on Aberrone Place in Buford, said Capt. Thomas Rutledge, a department spokesman.
The lightning was part of a system that moved through the metro area before dawn, said Griffith.
Gwinnett fire officials believe a lightning strike ignited the roof of a two-story home on Aberrone Place in Buford, said Capt. Thomas Rutledge, a department spokesman.
The lightning was part of a system that moved through the metro area before dawn, said Griffith.
Junction City, CA - Scattered showers forecast for California's northern mountains Sunday are unlikely to extinguish wildfires that still threaten homes and could bring more lightning to the charred region, fire officials said.
The weather system is not expected to bring enough rain to have any effect on several huge blazes that have burned for nearly a month, said Pete Munoa, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
A bigger concern is thunderstorms predicted to accompany the system.
But fire officials said cooler temperatures mean lightning strikes don't pose as much of a threat as they did a month ago, when storms sparked nearly 2,100 fires that have burned almost 1 million acres.
"The weather pattern, if it holds the way it is now, we should be able to get a foothold around these fires," Munoa said.
In the rural town of Junction City, residents were under mandatory evacuation orders for a third day Sunday as flames crept across the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The month-old fire had spread to nearly 87 square miles by Sunday and was 49 percent contained.
The weather system is not expected to bring enough rain to have any effect on several huge blazes that have burned for nearly a month, said Pete Munoa, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
A bigger concern is thunderstorms predicted to accompany the system.
But fire officials said cooler temperatures mean lightning strikes don't pose as much of a threat as they did a month ago, when storms sparked nearly 2,100 fires that have burned almost 1 million acres.
"The weather pattern, if it holds the way it is now, we should be able to get a foothold around these fires," Munoa said.
In the rural town of Junction City, residents were under mandatory evacuation orders for a third day Sunday as flames crept across the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The month-old fire had spread to nearly 87 square miles by Sunday and was 49 percent contained.
Richfield - A Sevier County woman beat the odds after getting struck by lightning and surviving. Experts say those odds are 1 in 700,000.
Beijing -- Many of the basics of lightning have been revealed, but scientists admit they don't really understand how lighting gets from one place to another and lightning link to X-rays is still a mystery.
"Nobody understands how lightning makes X-rays," says Martin Uman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Florida. "Despite reaching temperatures five times hotter than the surface of the sun, the temperature of lightning is still thousands of times too cold to account for the X-rays observed.
"It's obviously happening. And we have put limits on how it's happening and where it's happening."
As lightning comes down from a cloud, it moves in steps, each 30 to 160 feet long. In this "step leader" process, X-rays shoot out just below each step millionths of a second after the step completes, the researchers learned.
"Nobody understands how lightning makes X-rays," says Martin Uman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Florida. "Despite reaching temperatures five times hotter than the surface of the sun, the temperature of lightning is still thousands of times too cold to account for the X-rays observed.
"It's obviously happening. And we have put limits on how it's happening and where it's happening."
As lightning comes down from a cloud, it moves in steps, each 30 to 160 feet long. In this "step leader" process, X-rays shoot out just below each step millionths of a second after the step completes, the researchers learned.
