Mosquito Fire burns more than 46K acres, firefighters make progress on containment

Cooler temperatures and higher humidity helped crews gain some control of the wildfire burning in Placer and El Dorado counties, but wind later this week could still be an issue.

The Mosquito Fire started on the evening of Sept. 6 near Mosquito Ridge Road on the north side of the Oxbow Reservoir. The Oxbow Reservoir is about 11 miles east of the community of Foresthill. Foresthill is located about 20 miles northeast of Auburn.

Crews were able to spend a good portion of Monday doing mop-up of areas where flames burnt out, strengthening control lines to help prevent further spread of the fire, according to Cal Fire, the state’s fire management agency.

“These actions are crucial to ensuring that the fire will not cross over control lines and ultimately add containment once firefighters determine there is no threat of escape,” Cal Fire said in a release.

As of Monday evening, the Mosquito Fire has grown to 48,700 acres, as mapped by the state’s Fire Integrated Real-time Intelligence System. That’s a slight increase from the 48,509 acres reported Monday afternoon. The fire is now 16% containment.

Twenty-five homes were destroyed, and about 5,848 structures remain threatened, Cal Fire said. There are 11,260 people who evacuated since the fire started.

Cal Fire added that the fire continues to progress to the north and east. Although this week is bringing cooler temperatures, the agency said it worried that historically dry fuel moisture would continue to drive the fire’s growth.

However, the southwest winds could push the fire to the northeast areas, Cal Fire said.

Cal Fire said the steep and rugged terrain of the fire makes it difficult for crews to access the fire directly.

KCRA 3 on Sunday morning surveyed as much area as possible behind fire lines.

Homes were found burned down on Michigan Bluff Road, parallel to Gorman Ranch Road, while many homes near the historical district of Michigan Bluff are still standing.

Homes observed in Foresthill and down Chicken Hawk Road were also untouched by fire as of Sunday morning. Though many homes in the area are down a private road and could not be seen from the public road.

Cal Fire hopes to fully contain the fire by Oct. 15. However, 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.

See all evacuation orders and warnings below. App users, click here.

Evacuation centers

Placer County

Sierra College — 5100 Sierra College Blvd, Rocklin, CA 95677 (Parking in Lot B, shelter will be in the Building J cafeteria)

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.

Green Valley Community Church — 3500 Missouri Flat Road, Placerville, CA. This location with accept human and small domestic animals on leashes or in creates. No Large animal and no birds. Limited RV parking and no hookups.

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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

Diamond Spring Shelter — 6435 Capitol Avenue, Diamond Springs, CA 95619

Flying M Ranch — 5421 Buck Mountain Road, Placerville, CA 95667

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.)

El Dorado County residents can check if their home is destroyed

Residents in El Dorado County that had to evacuate because of the wildfire burning in the area can now start checking if their homes are still standing.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office released an interactive map that lets you click on homes that are color-coded based on the amount of damage. Damaged or destroyed homes will also include pictures showing what the house looks like. Homes without damage will not have their pictures posted.

According to the sheriff’s office, if you don’t see your home on the map, you are encouraged to check back later as crews continue to assess damages by the wildfire. Currently, the map shows homes in the Volcanoville, Georgetown and Quintette areas.

View that map below. App users, click here.

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.

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Smoke from wildfire leaves Northern California skies hazy

| VIDEO BELOW | Here’s an aerial look from LiveCopter 3 of the Mosquito Fire

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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 Monday, 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 that will range from moderate to hazardous.

| MORE | Sacramento region’s air quality impacted by unhealthy smoke from the Mosquito Fire