  Large wildfires are becoming more frequent at temperate latitudes. Often,
fires generate massive convective columns that can carry solid particles (ash)
into the stratosphere. Like their meteorological counterparts, pyrocumulonimbus
(pyroCb) clouds can generate intense lightning storms. Recently, pyrogenic
lightning has garnered renewed interest for its capacity to ignite new fires at
large distances from the initial fire (in addition to representing a hazard in
and of itself). Furthermore, and in analogy with volcanogenic lightning,
pyrogenic lightning may offer novel opportunities to monitor and infer the
internal dynamics of wildfires remotely. However, the electrification
mechanisms underlying wildfire lightning require further clarification. Here,
we report on charge measurements conducted during the 2022 Cedar Creek
``megafire.'' We find that a wildfire plume associated with various pyCb events
remains mildly electrified at $\sim$80 km from the fire. Our measurements
suggest that individual ash particles carry charge densities on the order of
10\textsuperscript{-8} - 10\textsuperscript{-7} C m\textsuperscript{-2}. Owing
to this low level of charging, additional electrification mechanisms (perhaps,
those associated with the nucleation of ice) appear to be necessary to produce
pyrogenic lightning at large distances from the source.
