A surge of thunderstorm activity lit up western Oregon earlier this week, with nearly 1,000 lightning flashes striking across Lane County and igniting new wildfires in the southern Willamette Valley and Cascade Range.
The National Weather Service reported about 600 cloud-to-cloud strikes and another 300 to 400 bolts hitting the ground on Monday. Roughly 20 to 40 of those ground strikes landed west of Goshen and south of Eugene, where one is suspected of sparking the Spencer Butte fire. The fire has since been reported to be under control.
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