Mosquito Fire at 76,788 acres and is now 90% contained
PLACER COUNTY -- There has been little to no growth in the Mosquito Fire's size for days. It has burned 76,788 acres with containment at 90%, as of Sunday morning.
Last weekend, warmer, drier temperatures caused areas of unburned fuel within the fire perimeter to become more active and aircraft was brought in briefly to suppress these areas, the U.S. Forest Service said.
Firefighters on Saturday worked to extinguish areas of smoke which were visible in the north and northwestern most area of the fire where resources were still actively engaged in strengthening control line around a 300-acre area of unburned fuel to the north. Crews continue to search for and extinguish hot spots around this island, according to a published update Sunday.
Aircraft used infrared technology to find areas of heat remaining near the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American River and the Rubicon River, and fire personnel are extinguishing these areas as safety allows.
Additionally, more crews and specialized equipment are arriving daily as personnel time-out and are released to their home units or to support other incidents.
Also on Sunday, the Burned Area Emergency Response team released the Mosquito Post-Fire Soil Burn Severity Map created by satellite imagery and then field validated over several days. Along with burn severity, the map shows land ownership and acreage. To view the map and to follow the continued efforts of and recommendations from the BAER team, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8430.
The fire began on September 6 next to the Oxbow Reservoir in Placer County and quickly spread in dense brush and steep terrain.
Fire officials say 78 structures were destroyed and 13 structures damaged.
The cause of the fire is under investigation; however, PG&E says an electrical fault was recorded near where the fire began, at around the same time it started. The company also noted that they hadn't seen any damage or abnormal conditions at the pole. There wasn't any vegetation or tree found on the line.
View road closures in the vicinity of the Mosquito Fire on the Caltrans interactive map: https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/
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