Firefighters from states neighboring California arrived to help yesterday after an "unprecedented" lightning storm sparked more than 800 wildfires.

Thousands of firefighters battled the blazes on the ground and from the air, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was alarmed by the number of fires that kept erupting.

He said he was told late Sunday evening that the state had 520 fires, and he found it "quite shocking" that by morning the number had risen above 700.

Moments later, a top state fire official standing at Schwarzenegger's side offered a grim update: The figure was actually 842 fires.

Monitor wire reports