California fire threatens Gold Rush towns
Multiple fire fronts were running in opposite directions on California’s Mosquito Fire on Friday afternoon, Nolan Hale, a Cal Fire deputy of operations, said in a video update posted on Twitter Friday afternoon.
“The town of Foresthill is completely inundated with fire resources and engaged in active fire suppression and structure protection through Foresthill proper,” Hale said. “In El Dorado County, we’re moving through Volcanoville with perimeter control and all the way out into Stumpy Meadows for planning purposes.”
Eerie photo shows 100-foot flames shooting through trees in Foresthill
September 9, 2:15 p.m
California firefighters battled 100-foot-tall flames that shot through the trees to protect the Gold Rush town of Foresthill on Friday morning, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter. The department shared an image of the firefighters in action as the Mosquito Fire turned the skies a dark, burnt orange hue.
The department also posted a video with footage from Thursday, showing firefighters on the front lines of the blaze and aircraft dropping fire retardant from above. Emergency personnel can be seen traversing steep hills as massive pyrocumulus clouds develop in the distance. The untamed fire, which shows no signs of abating, has reached nearly 30,000 acres by Friday afternoon.
Highway 193 closes
September 9, 12:45 p.m
Highway 193 fully closed Friday afternoon 5.7 miles east of the Placer County-El Dorado County line at Pilgrim Road to Black Oak Mine Road due to the Mosquito Fire, Caltrans announced. Motorists are advised to avoid the area and use another route to make way for emergency personnel. Estimated reopening times are currently unavailable.
California’s Mosquito Fire doubles in size
September 9, 12:15 p.m
California’s Mosquito Fire burning near the Placer County town of Foresthill has reached 29,585 acres, meaning the blaze more than doubled in size since Thursday night, the US Forest Service said just after 11 am Friday. The fire’s burn area was mapped at 13,704 acres at 10 pm on Thursday, Cal Fire said.
Aircraft struggled earlier in the morning to accurately map the fire’s perimeter due to thick smoke covering the area, but were finally able to capture the burn area’s size later in the morning.
The fire is expected to see similar growth today and tomorrow with 100-degree temperatures, low humidities and light winds in the weather forecast, the Forest Service said.
California’s Mosquito Fire threatens Gold Rush towns
September 9, 8 am
California’s Mosquito Fire in the Tahoe National Forest showed no signs of slowing down overnight, continuing to tear through a tinder-dry landscape and threatening thousands of homes in the small Gold Rush towns of the Sierra Nevada while flooding the region with smoke.
“I would say the fire activity was extreme and significant,” Cal Fire spokesperson Chris Vestal said at 7:30 am Friday of the overnight activity. “The fire was very active.” Vestal said the agency is still nailing down the amount of acreage the fire had consumed overnight.
Last night, Cal Fire said the fire that started near Foresthill in Placer County was 13,704 acres. By Friday morning, the agency said the burn area had grown to at least 23,000 acres. Due to smoke conditions, aircraft have been unable to accurately map the perimeter.
The fire made a 5,000-acre push at noon on Thursday with fast-moving flames jumping the American River and moving from Placer County into El Dorado County, burning some homes in Volcanoville and forcing the residents of the historic Gold Rush town of Georgetown (pop 3,000) to flee their homes. As of Thursday night, the fire threatened 3,666 structures.
Stefani Lake evacuated her hilltop home near Georgetown Thursday after sheriff’s deputies knocked on doors telling people to get out. “The dogs are in the back of the car, I’ve got a room for the night, so I’m ready to leave,” Lake told the Sacramento Bee.
The fire started in the Tahoe National Forest at 6:27 pm on Tuesday near Oxbow Reservoir, 3 miles east of Foresthill, amid a punishing heat wave in California that sent temperatures soaring above 100 degrees for over a week. Flames are tearing through vegetation that was left parched and highly flammable after due to the scorching weather. Another day of dangerous heat with temperatures over 100 degrees is forecast Friday. Some relief is expected Saturday as clouds, remnants of Hurricane Kay, push into Northern California. By Sunday, temperatures are expected to drop into the 90s.
“We’re having the same weather today, so the fire activity will likely look similar to what we had yesterday,” Vestal said. “The potential for growth is similar. It’s definitely going to be cooler this weekend, but that doesn’t always mean less fire activity. Fuel moistures are still low … 90-degree temperatures are still relatively hot. We haven’t had good moisture recovery overnight. The expected containment is October 15. We still have a long road ahead of us.”
At a town hall in Auburn Thursday night, officials said mitigation measures were made to protect Foresthill, a former Gold Rush camp that is now home to about 1,700 people.
“It is getting close to some structures,” said Matthew Radtke, superintendent with the American River Hotshots. “I want you to know that we do have resources in there to protect all the structures.” He later added, “We feel proud of the progress we have made in Foresthill.”
Radtke said the fire crossed the American River near Volcanoville about noon Thursday.
“Volcanoville has definitely been impacted,” a Cal Fire division chief said. “We did have some structures destroyed there for sure. I can’t say exactly how many, but it’s definitely not the whole community by any stretch.”
The cause of the fire remained under investigation on Friday. PG&E said that “out of an abundance of caution,” it filed a report on Thursday with the Public Utilities Commission for an electrical fault that occurred close to the time the Mosquito Fire ignited on Tuesday and near the location where the fire started, a statement from the utility said. The US Forest Service placed caution tape around a transmission pole in the area, and PG&E investigators said they didn’t find any damage to the pole or its facilities near the reservoir and “has not observed any downed conductor in the area or any vegetation or step on the line.” PG&E filed for bankruptcy in 2019 in the face of billions of dollars in claims for wildfires started by equipment owned by the utility.
A destroyed structure rests in a clearing as the Mosquito Fire burns along Michigan Bluff Rd. in unincorporated Placer County, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022.
Noah Berger/APCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the Mosquito Fire burning in Placer and El Dorado counties, and the Fairview Fire in Riverside County, his office announced Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
This is a developing story. Details will be added as they become available.
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