A wave of lightning strikes swept across parts of Northern California Thursday, touching off flames and causing concern more fires could erupt as temperatures warm next week.

“We’ve had over 500 lightning strikes in Northern California in the last six hours,” Cal Fire spokesman Brice Bennett said early Thursday evening, as dispatchers monitored lightning strikes at the Amador-El Dorado Unit’s joint operations center in Camino.

“Butte’s had a couple strikes and the fire has actually grown to over 20 acres,” Bennett added.

The biggest concern is that strike-caused fires would keep burning, even as rain continues to fall.

“So, we’re seeing lightning-sparked fires, with rain, grow. And that’s a cause of concern for us,” Bennett said. “Some of the units in Northern California have activated their lightning plan due to the number of strikes and the fires they are finding from these strikes.”

Up the South Fork of the American River to the east, camper Rebekah Huitema recalled the arrival of thunder and lightning there.

“I screamed like a little girl,” Huitema said. “It was right here. You could almost feel the pulse from it.”

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