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Updated Sept. 12, 9:20 a.m.
After exploding in size during last week’s historic heat wave, the Mosquito Fire stayed calm over the weekend, in part due to cooler temperatures and a blanket of smoke that tempered its growth.
But on Sunday, officials said winds over the coming days could again stir up the blaze.
“The past day and a half or so, the fire just kind of sat,” said Jonathan Pangburn, a fire behavior analyst with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. But he added that, tomorrow and beyond, “a new air mass” with winds from the southwest could “clear the smoke out and bring new life into the fire environment,” pushing the fire northeast toward a “very receptive fuel bed.”
The Mosquito Fire stayed in its footpritnt overnight and has now burned a total of 46,587 acres as of Monday morning. Containment remains minimal, and evacuation orders and warnings for more than 11,000 residents of Placer and El Dorado counties stayed in place on Sunday. Nearly 2,400 firefighters and personnel are working day-and-night mitigate impacts.
The Placer County Sheriff's Office announced new mandatory evacuation orders on Saturday evening, indicating the Mosquito Fire continues to threaten Tahoe National Forest communities. The wildfire threatens nearly 6,000 homes and structures in California’s Gold Rush communities northeast of Sacramento. Smoke from the fire is also spreading across the Sierra Nevada mountains and Northern California. Officials forecast smoke to blanket Truckee, the Tahoe basin and Reno in the coming days.
The fire is burning in both Placer and El Dorado counties after crossing the Middle Fork of the American River around noon on Thursday. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency, which triggered a request for extra resources and funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Earlier in the week, the Mosquito Fire moved rapidly through the Sierra Nevada foothills, causing alarm. "It made about a 5,000 acre run in the matter of two to three hours in the vicinity of Volcanoville," Cal Fire battalion chief Nolan Hale said at a community meeting Thursday night.
Evacuation orders remain in place for the Placer County communities of Foresthill and the Todd Valley, which is about 13 miles northeast of Auburn; and Georgetown, Bottle Hill and Volcanoville in El Dorado County.
“We’re working around the clock while their homes are evacuated,” CalFire unit chief Mike Blankenheim said.
He added that there was a fire near his home earlier this summer and that his family “ got the full evacuation experience.
“I have a whole new perspective, a personal connection on the why” we are doing this work, Blankenheim said.
Officials are updating the evacuation map for Placer County and El Dorado County. There is also an information page from El Dorado County, and additional resources to track the fire.
The Mosquito Fire started Tuesday evening near Oxbow Reservoir, which is about 80 miles northeast of Sacramento near the confluence of the Rubicon and American rivers.
Fire officials said Wednesday evening they are aware of reports of damaged structures but haven't inspected the burned areas yet. Cal Fire Amador-El Dorado Unit Chief Mike Blankenheim said Thursday night that some homes were destroyed in the town of Volcanoville, "but not the whole community by any stretch."
Residents told CapRadio on Friday morning that they expected some of their homes to be lost due to the fire.
Reporters saw multiple damaged homes in the area of Michigan Bluff, a small Gold Rush community with a population of less than 100 people, though officials said Thursday evening most homes are intact.
Cal Fire's Hale said there were "an immense amount" of resources protecting homes in Foresthill.
"They will be there 24 hours a day until we feel it is secure," Hale said.
Officials also say firefighters are focusing on protecting property and homes in Volcanoville, Quintette, Georgetown and other nearby communities.
The affected area is the Sierra Nevada foothills, at elevations between 2,000 and 3,500 feet and in extremely dry forested areas due to California’s drought. The Mosquito Fire sparked during a historic heat wave and was fueled by near-record-setting temperatures on Thursday above 100 degrees in the mountains and north of 110 degrees in the Sacramento valley.
Placer County issued a local emergency in response to the fire, citing substantial threat to the health and safety of its residents.
The fire has generated massive amounts of smoke and pyrocumulus clouds. Placer County has issued an air quality advisory through the weekend because of the fire, and Sacramento County put out a smoke advisory.
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