California.11 thousand lightning strikes within hours in the fiercest wave of thunderstorms to hit the state

ArabiaWeather - A pilot was killed and forced thousands of people to flee their homes in California, after lightning ignited hundreds of fires across the US state.

Nearly 11,000 lightning strikes were recorded in California over a 72-hour period, in the fiercest wave of thunderstorms to hit the state in more than a decade.

The authorities said that 367 fires were burning, and more than twenty fires turned into large fires.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said a helicopter pilot died after crashing while on a water-drop mission in Fresno County, about 160 miles south of San Francisco.

Fires ravage more than 771,000 acres in California as of Friday

Nearly 560 fires destroyed more than 771,000 acres as of Friday, although nearly 12,000 firefighters were deployed across the state.

California is still struggling to contain the fires in the north of the state, which are swelling even more and forcing more people to flee their homes.

At least 119,000 people have already received orders to leave their homes.