Cal Fire using technology to monitor lightning strikes
No lightning strikes causing fires so far this year on Central Coast
On the Central Coast, in an effort to stop fires before they start, Cal Fire is monitoring lightning strikes throughout the country.
But its real focus is California and on the Central Coast.
The agency is tapping into technology supplied by the Bureau of Land Management to monitor lightning strikes at the Felton Command Center.
VIDEO: Firefighters use lightning-strike technology
So far this year, there haven't been any fires caused by lightning on the Central Coast.
But in other arts of the state, there have been 62 which have caused minor fires.
Fire crews keep an eye out for so-called "sleeper fires," which are lightning strikes that can smolder for days before flaring up.
"We just send an air attack or a fixed-wing airplane over certain areas if we think there's been enough positive lightning strikes -- just to double check the areas that the areas that are not really populated," said CalFire's Michael Borrelli.
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