Oregon Public Broadcasting

A series of major lightning storms across eastern and southern Oregon over the weekend sparked more than one hundred small fires.

But no major wildfires have been reported.  Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey has the story.

More than 2400 weekend lightning strikes were reported in central Oregon alone.

The storm blacked out power to 40,000 residents for about an hour on Saturday night.

One home in Crooked River Ranch, northwest of Redmond, burned down after being  struck by lightning.

Tim McLaren is the deputy chief of the Crooked River Ranch Fire Department. He says the residents were in the house.

Tim McLaren: “They were standing in a doorway, probably 20 feet from where it hit. They said it was very loud and they could feel it.”

He says lightning-caused home fires are difficult to fight.

Tim McLaren: “Due to the heat of the lightning, it wasn’t just one spot. It had spread throughout the entire roof.”

Firefighters are worried that continuing thunderstorms and high heat could spark more dangerous blazes in the weeks to come.