The National Guard is helping to fight California fires, sending four C130s filled with flame retardants and water, the state's fire-fighting agency Cal Fire says, according to dpa. Two C130 heavy transport aircraft are already on the scene, and another two are coming from the Colorado National Guard, a fire official says in a briefing posted on Twitter. Dry lightning has caused many of the 21 fires consuming the state's water-starved forests, brush and grasslands, the official says. He shows a map indicating dozens of lightning strikes delivered by storm systems that fail to drop water.
