Rare summer Ventura County lightning storm sparks 2 fires

A rare summer electrical storm thundered through Ventura County early Friday, causing power outages and dampening some areas.

The storm originated in Baja California, Mexico, overnight and moved northwest through the county, said Bill Hoffer, a spokesman for the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

More than 400 lightning strikes were tallied throughout the region, Hoffer said. Most struck the Pacific Ocean between Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties. In Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, the lightning sparked fires.

Storms like this one are “pretty rare” in mid-August, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

It was the first rain recorded on Aug. 15 in at least eight years, which is as far back as the daily records go at the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office, Seto said.

Firefighters expected to contain a 10-acre fire burning in a remote area of Santa Barbara County by Friday evening, while a 25-acre blaze in San Luis Obispo County is under control, officials said.

The fires, which were sparked by the lightning, posed no threat to buildings or residents.

The lightning also ignited several smaller fires in San Luis Obispo, but those blazes were either contained or controlled by Friday afternoon, said Cal Fire spokeswoman Angela Gutgesell.

The biggest fire, along Orcutt Road, has been controlled, she said.

In Santa Barbara County, about 100 firefighters are battling the 10-acre blaze atop a hill in Tepusquet Canyon, said county fire Capt. Eli Iskow.

Officials initially estimated the fire at 15 acres but later determined it was smaller.

Firefighters deployed dozers to help build fire lines, and helicopters have been dumping water on the blaze, Iskow said. “We should have this contained before dark,” he said.

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