Storm activity on the weekend in the Manning Valley caused 4000 lightning ground strikes and tens of thousands cloud to cloud strikes, according to a Weatherzone spokesperson.
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The Saturday storm saw three new fires start due to lightning at Belbora, Moorland and Firefly, however all three fires were spotted by a reconnaissance aircraft and ground crews were able to quickly put the fires out.
Storm activity on Sunday February 5 caused 25 new fires, some of which continued to burn through the catastrophic fire conditions of the weekend following.
To date three fires remain burning in the Valley with two being patrolled and one contained – two of those being at Cells Road, and the Mt Pleasant fire at Wherrol Flat which has covered 140-150 hectares.
Seventy firefighters are still out in the field in the Manning and Gloucester districts, with four aircraft assisting.