Mosquito Fire becomes California’s largest wildfire of 2022. Will rain help soon?
Friday’s update: Mosquito Fire at nearly 70,000 acres. Crews welcome rain but brace for weekend wind
Growth from flare-ups this week pushed the Mosquito Fire burning in Placer and El Dorado counties to become California’s largest wildfire of 2022, with crews continuing to battle for containment while protecting homes in the Sierra Nevada foothills during fluctuating weather.
Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service on Thursday morning reported the wildfire at 64,159 acres (100 square miles). Containment remains at 20%, the same as Wednesday morning.
The Mosquito Fire has grown by more than 14,000 acres this week, after holding at just below 50,000 acres from the weekend through Monday amid tame fire weather conditions.
The blaze, which ignited Sept. 6 near the Oxbow Reservoir and showed extreme fire behavior at its outset, roared back to life Tuesday afternoon when gusty winds cleared out a smoke inversion layer and provided more oxygen for active burning.
The wildfire jumped the Middle Fork of the American River from south to north, producing an 1,100-acre spot fire that raced toward the towns of Foresthill and Todd Valley.
“That piece is critical for us today,” Cal Fire operations section chief Donald Fregulia said of Foresthill in a Thursday morning briefing from the agency’s Nevada-Placer-Yuba unit. “It’s where we’re focusing all of our efforts.
“We’re very sensitive to the fact that the people that are evacuated from Georgetown to Foresthill and places in between are still away from their homes, and we want to get you guys home as soon as possible.”
Fire crews mounted a dramatic, so far successful defense of the two communities, holding flames south of Foresthill Road with the help of numerous retardant drops by large aircraft.
With the latest flare-ups, acreage on the Mosquito Fire has overtaken the McKinney Fire, which started in late July in Siskiyou County and went on to consume 60,138 acres, to become the state’s largest wildfire this year.
The Mosquito Fire also swelled this week on its northeastern flank, in more sparsely populated parts of Placer County. The growth prompted a new evacuation order in Placer County, for homes north of Yankee Jims Road, as well as the Stumpy Meadows campground area in El Dorado County.
Containment lines are holding well on the southern edge of the fire, near the El Dorado County communities of Georgetown, Volcanoville and Quintette, officials wrote in Thursday morning’s incident update. About 20 homes were destroyed along Volcanoville Road late last week, according to Cal Fire damage assessments.
Firefighters are pursuing a thorough mop-up to ensure no spot fires jump containment lines on the Mosquito Fire’s southern flank.
“We’re planning out the battle of the Rubicon River,” said Fregulia, focusing on the southeastern corner of the fire. “For those of you that know, this is another very steep major river drainage on the landscape.”
More than 3,600 personnel are assigned to the blaze, which officials say continues to displace 11,277 residents and threaten more than 9,200 structures, most of them homes.
At least 70 structures have been destroyed by the Mosquito Fire and 10 others damaged, Cal Fire said. No fatalities or injuries have been reported.
Mandatory evacuation orders have been in place for more than a week in Foresthill and Todd Valley, and for nearly a week in parts of El Dorado County where the fire jumped the river last week, from north to south.
Evacuation centers have been established at Sierra College, 6100 Sierra College Blvd. in Rocklin; Cameron Park Services District, 2502 Country Club Drive in Cameron Park; and Green Valley Community Church, 3500 Missouri Flat Road in Placerville. The Cameron Park site is an overnight shelter.
Authorities are “still making plans” for repopulation efforts of evacuated areas, Lt. Josh Barnhart of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a Thursday afternoon video update.
“As evidenced (Tuesday), if we do start the repopulation process too quickly, we would have to re-evacuate, and that causes safety problems for you and for our emergency personnel and firefighters,” Barnhart said.
Large swaths of Tahoe National Forest are closed to the public through the end of 2022.
How will weather impact Mosquito Fire?
Fire officials reported good conditions and calm wind overnight, as personnel built containment lines and conducted firing operations. More winds were expected Thursday, though, that could again clear out a smoke inversion layer and stoke more fire behavior.
Crews hope to benefit from rain in the forecast starting this weekend, with showers possible near Foresthill on Saturday night and likely on Sunday and Monday.
Tuesday’s flare-up produced a huge pyrocumulus smoke column and spewed air pollution toward the east and northeast.
Hazardous air quality near Reno forced Washoe County School District to cancel school at all of its campuses Wednesday. Lake Tahoe Unified School District canceled classes Monday due to wildfire smoke.
Rogue drone shuts down air operations
An “unauthorized drone” was spotted near Georgetown early Thursday afternoon, stalling aerial operations on the fire in that area, Cal Fire officials said.
“Aerial operations in that area were put on hold until it was verified the drone had left,” Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit tweeted.
The drone appeared around 12:45 p.m. near authorities’ mobile retardant base in the Georgetown area.
For safety reasons, aircraft cannot fly with drones in the same airspace.
Updates on other wildfires
▪ The Dutch Fire, which ignited early Tuesday afternoon near Dutch Flat and spread rapidly at its outset, was at 48 acres with 60% containment Thursday morning. Neighborhoods in the Dutch Flat area just north of Interstate 80 were evacuated for roughly three hours, and I-80 was closed in both directions as crews battled the blaze. Westbound I-80 is still reduced to one lane.
▪ The Mill Fire, burning near Weed in Siskiyou County since Sept. 2, has burned 3,935 acres (6.1 square miles) and was reported 100% contained as of Monday evening. Fire growth has been minimal for days, and crews continue to mop up as the post-fire response begins. All remaining evacuations were lifted Monday, Cal Fire said. Two civilians were killed in the blaze.
▪ The Mountain Fire, burning east of Gazelle in Siskiyou County, has charred 13,440 acres (21 square miles) since starting Sept. 2 several miles west of the Mill Fire. It was 75% contained, firefighters said in a Thursday morning update, and has just four acres since Sunday.grown no growth reported Monday or Tuesday. Sixty people remain under evacuation orders.
▪ The Fairview Fire, which has torched 28,307 acres (44.2 square miles) in Riverside County since starting last week, is 84% contained. “Ample moisture” on Monday night, the remnants of Hurricane Kay, helped humidity recovery. Showers emerged Tuesday evening and a marine layer settled over the fire Wednesday, Cal Fire said. The fire has killed two people, injured two firefighters and one civilian, and destroyed at least 22 primary structures along with more than a dozen outbuildings.
This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 8:54 AM with the headline "Mosquito Fire becomes California’s largest wildfire of 2022. Will rain help soon?."
