Lightning Sparked Many Arkansas Wildfires This Summer
More than 1,000 wildfires burned this year in Arkansas and plenty of them have been started by people, either accidentally or deliberately.
Normally lighting causes less than 15 percent of Arkansas wildfires and in some years, less than 3 percent.
State Forester Joe Fox says lightning has caused more than half of fires in the last two months.
Fox says that small thunderstorms that pop up often bring lightning strikes that hit where no rain is falling – and that’s how the fires start.
Those fires tend to be in remote areas. Fires started by people usually are along roads or near homes.
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.