The fast-moving wildfire in Northern California is forcing more people to evacuate their homes on Saturday after an active week of fire activity, posing a significant challenge for fire crews as it nears Foresthill.
The Mosquito Fire was reported Tuesday evening near Mosquito Ridge Road on the north side of the Oxbow Reservoir. It threatens several communities across Placer and El Dorado counties, including Georgetown and Foresthill.
As of 8 a.m. on Saturday, the Mosquito Fire has charred 33,754 acres, according to Cal Fire. The state’s wildfire fighting agency said the blaze is still 0% contained. There are 3,666 structures threatened.
“The fire spread significantly overnight due to extreme fire behavior and heavy smoke limited visibility,” Cal Fire said in a Saturday morning update. “The fire made uphill runs with short-range spotting.”
A Cal Fire representative told KCRA 3’s Erin Heft on Saturday that they’re hopeful a drop in temperatures will give crews the chance they need to make progress on containment.
A spokesperson for the incident had said on Friday that while crews’ air response was limited by the smoke, the smoke helped “lay down” the fire. Cooler temperatures also aided crews as they strengthened containment lines.
“Just because we’re at zero percent doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been a lot of work done,” said Chris Vestal, a spokesperson for the incident. “It is very hard to build a solid containment line on a fire in this kind of terrain. There are very steep canyons, steep slopes. It takes a very wide line.”
Fire officials said that the fire is burning in difficult terrain, including steep canyons where directly attacking the fire can be difficult.
(Watch officials give Saturday evening update on Mosquito Fire below.)
Cal Fire hopes to fully contain the fire by Oct. 15. Containment is not a measure of how much of the fire is extinguished but rather a gauge as to how much of a line crews have around the fire perimeter to prevent the fire from spreading.
“Combined with very low fuel moistures fire conditions are likely to replicate today’s behavior during the overnight period and into tomorrow’s operational period,” Cal Fire said.
See all evacuation orders and warnings below. App users, click here.
Evacuation centers
Placer County
Sierra College — 5100 Sierra College Blvd, Rocklin, CA 95677
El Dorado County
Cameron Park Services District — 2502 Country Club Drive, Cameron Park, CA 95682. Overnight shelter, meals, showers, limited health services and parking for trailers will be provided. Animals in crates and carriers will also be accepted.
Animal evacuation centers
Placer County
Placer County Animal Services Center — 11232 B Avenue, Auburn, CA 95603
Nevada County Fairgrounds — 11228 McCourtney Road, Grass Valley, CA 95949
Road Closures
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said hard road closures are in place on Foresthill Road and Lincoln Way in Auburn. There are also closures at the Old Foresthill Road at the Confluence.
The eastbound Interstate 80 offramp to Foresthill Road is closed due to the fire.
(Click through the gallery below for a glimpse at the firefight.)
State of emergency declared
Placer County issued a local emergency due to the blaze on Thursday.
“A local emergency proclamation asserts continuing risk to life and property and that the response is beyond the capabilities of local resources,” a release from the county said. “Placer’s proclamation requests state and federal assistance, but neither a state nor a federal disaster has yet been declared that would authorize individual disaster assistance for residents and businesses.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday also declared a state of emergency in Placer and El Dorado counties due to the fires. With the state of emergency declared, that opens up federal resources to assist in combating the fire.
The Oxbow Reservoir is about 11 miles east of the community of Foresthill. Foresthill is located about 20 miles northwest of Auburn.
| VIDEO BELOW | Here’s an aerial look from LiveCopter 3 of the Mosquito Fire
Smoke from wildfire leaves skies hazy
Drivers moved through a haze along Highway 50, going through areas like Folsom and El Dorado Hills.
“It smells really smoky. It looks really hazy. There’s not an ounce of blue in the sky,” said Pam Malone of Folsom.
Like many, she was limiting her time outdoors because of the unhealthy air quality.
At the El Dorado Hills Town Center on Friday, some people masked up and most avoided spending too much time walking around outside.
“The parking lot has a lot of cars. I think people are just trying to get out of the outdoors and come inside,” said Andrea Riso, owner of Talisman Collection Fine Jewelers. “It definitely slows business. People are concerned for the air quality value.”
Still, she did what she could to make things comfortable for her customers inside her shop.
“It’s like Armageddon outside, but we’re battening down the hatches and making sure that it’s easy to breathe inside. Nice and cool,” Riso said.
More El Dorado County residents had to evacuate when Mosquito Fire jumped the American River
Mandatory evacuations in El Dorado County included parts of the communities of Volcanoville, Bottle Hill and Georgetown. The Main Street area of Georgetown was bustling with activity Thursday, as people heeded the evacuation orders and left town.
KCRA 3’s Orko Manna spoke to Volcanoville residents who had to evacuate. Linda Gamble explained how a sheriff’s deputy had to escort her during the evacuation Thursday.
“He had to drive through the fire to get us out,” Gamble said. “We live in a trailer, and if we lose it, we’ve lost everything… If our trailer burns down, where are we going to live? It’s just very scary.”
Judy Habig, who evacuated her Volcanoville home with her husband Clifford, said they left their residence a little bit earlier in the day. Still, she described the whole ordeal as a blur.
“Horrible. Sad,” Judy Habig said. “We didn’t cry or panic. We were in shock. You just go like a robot.”
Mandatory evacuations expanded into Georgetown in El Dorado County and the community of Todd Valley in Placer County on Thursday.
Evacuation warnings for issued for the El Dorado County communities of Cool, Pilot Hill Garden Valley and Kelsey, along with the surrounding areas. With evacuation warnings, you are not lawfully required to leave but are recommended to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice in case fire behavior becomes threatening.
Some homes destroyed in the Mosquito Fire
The fire burned through the area of Michigan Bluff Road near High Street Wednesday afternoon, destroying some homes.
Cal Fire has not yet confirmed how many structures may have burned.
PG&E files incident report to CPUC
It’s still unclear how the Mosquito Fire started. However, PG&E filed a report with the state’s public utility commission for a pole near where the fire started.
The U.S. Forest Service had placed “caution tape around the base of a PG&E transmission pole” the report said on Thursday. “Thus far, PG&E has observed no damage or abnormal conditions to the pole or our facilities near Oxbow Reservoir, has not observed down conductor in the area or any vegetation related issues.”
PG&E is investigating.
Here’s a look at the current air quality in Northern California
Smoke from the Mosquito Fire burning in Placer and El Dorado counties will continue to impact areas across the Sacramento region on Saturday, according to Spare the Air. The Sacramento Metropolitan, El Dorado, Feather River, Placer and Yolo-Solano air districts forecast unhealthy air quality for the region.
| MORE | Sacramento region’s air quality impacted by unhealthy smoke from the Mosquito Fire
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