Lightning strikes pose danger to already fire-ridden West

Dry lightning is posing the threat for new fires to spark in a region already plagued by dozens of largely uncontained wildfires.

Dry lightning is posing the threat for new fires to spark in a region already plagued by dozens of largely uncontained wildfires. The thunderstorms could generate after moisture as the deadly monsoons in the Southwest U.S. push north to areas such as southern Oregon, where the Bootleg Fire rages on, and northern California and Nevada. Officials are concerned that the lightning strikes could generate new fires as firefighters are struggling to contain the existing blazes. There are currently at least 89 large wildfires burning in the U.S., most of them in the West. The Dixie Fire near the Feather River Canyon in Northern California had grown to nearly 193,000 acres by Monday morning and was 21% contained. Over the weekend, the Dixie Fire surpassed the Beckwourth Complex Fire in Doyle, California, as the state's largest wildfire.