Fires
Rain quiets Mosquito Fire in Northern California but adds risk of flash flooding
An ongoing storm in Northern California helped tame the Mosquito Fire and boost containment efforts over the weekend, allowing about 3,000 people to return home after more than a week of being displaced by mandatory evacuations.
But more than 8,000 residents of El Dorado and Placer counties remained under evacuation orders as of Monday morning due to the blaze, which sparked Sept. 6 near Oxbow Reservoir in the foothills east of Sacramento and has grown to become California’s largest wildfire of 2022.
Evacuation orders have been lifted for the El Dorado County community of Georgetown, and lifted or reduced from mandatory orders to warnings for portions of Placer County on the western side of the fire, including parts of Todd Valley, according to the two counties’ sheriff’s offices.
Officials warn that heavier rain expected Monday morning could lead to flash flooding and debris flows in areas recently scarred by the Mosquito Fire. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for areas south and east of Foresthill, in place through the end of Tuesday.
Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service reported Monday morning that the fire had burned at 76,290 acres (119 square miles) and was 39% contained. Containment increased from 21% reported Friday morning, and no growth was observed overnight.
Moisture from the storm “decreased fire behavior significantly” on Sunday, officials wrote in Monday’s update. Still, portions of the fire under “thick canopies” did not benefit as much and continued to burn.
“Forward progression of the fire across the east side is pretty much halted,” Don Fregulia, a Cal Fire operations section chief, said in a briefing video posted Monday morning by Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit.
“Of note, though, despite the rain, (near) the Middle Fork of the American River we were able to get fire to carry, still, last night. So that tells you how dry the fuels are out there.”
Crews are also bracing for hazards created by the rain.
“This landscape is already steep and rugged, and it becomes even more treacherous with the addition of rain, making the terrain muddy and slippery,” officials wrote in Monday’s incident report.
At least 78 structures have been destroyed and 13 others damaged in the blaze, including homes in the Volcanoville and Michigan Bluff areas.
More than 9,200 structures, mostly homes, are still considered threatened by the Mosquito Fire.
The fire grew explosively in its first few days, calmed considerably in its first weekend and then roared back to life last Tuesday with an 1,100-acre flare-up. Winds on Tuesday caused the fire to cross the Middle Fork of the American River from El Dorado County into Placer County, racing toward Foresthill and Todd Valley.
Fire crews mounted a successful defense of the towns, keeping flames south of Foresthill Road.
More than 3,700 fire personnel were assigned to the Mosquito Fire as of Monday morning.
California air quality improves significantly due to storm
The storm has cleared Northern California of air pollution from the Mosquito Fire, for now.
A federal air monitor map as of 7 a.m. Monday showed “good” air quality encompassing the entire state, as well as western Nevada.
Hazardous smoke from the wildfire impacted the Lake Tahoe and Reno areas last week, leading to one day of school closures for the Washoe County and Lake Tahoe Unified school districts.
Other wildfire updates
▪ The Garden Fire, 10 miles northwest of Auburn near Garden Bar Road and Big Hill Road, is 90% contained. The fire has burned 29 acres of grass and oak woodland, Cal Fire officials wrote in a Sunday evening tweet, and mop-up efforts are ongoing.
▪ The Dutch Fire, which started Tuesday afternoon and had closed Interstate 80 near Dutch Flat in Placer County, was 90% contained Sunday evening, up from 75% on Saturday. It remains at 48 acres.
This story was originally published September 19, 2022 8:19 AM.
