Lightning sparks more than 60 new fires in Wash.

Lightning sparks more than 60 new fires in Wash.
Lightning strikes the Saddle Rock area near Wenatchee on Saturday evening. (KOMO viewer photo)
WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) - Overnight lightning strikes sparked dozens of new fires in Washington state.

Jim Duck, a coordinator with the Central Washington Interagency Communications Center, tells The Wenatchee World that his agency received more than 60 wildfire reports through Saturday night as a series of thunderstorms hit the region.

Helicopters were dumping water Sunday morning on one small brush fire burning on a ridge in Wenatchee's west hills.

By 9 p.m. Saturday, an evacuation notice was issued for residents of Williams Canyon, near Dryden, as a lighting-sparked blaze reached 60 acres.

Firefighters are continuing to fight the state's largest blaze, the 1,614-acre White Salmon fire, which is 50 percent contained. Increased winds are expected and could pose a challenge through Monday.