The fire spread to more than 8,000 acres overnight. By Tuesday afternoon, the fire had pushed toward the Foresthill community and reached the edge of Foresthill High School, torching structures across the street as firefighting aircraft rushed to drop flame retardant on the raging blaze. Aerial video from CNN affiliate KCRA showed flames engulfing a number of cars and structures under thick black smoke. It was not immediately clear how many buildings and vehicles were lost in the blaze, but firefighters appeared to have kept the flames away from Foresthill High School, Cal Fire public information officer Scott McLean told CNN. Although firefighters were helped by calm weather over the weekend, stronger southwesterly winds blew into the region on Tuesday, dispersing a plume of smoke that had hung for days over the Mosquito fire. As the trapped smoke cleared in the afternoon, the flames exploded and a spot fire jumped the Middle Fork of the American River in the western corner of the fire perimeter and raced toward Foresthill, tearing through extremely dry fuel and steep terrain. The flames moved from the El Dorado County side back into Placer County, below the communities of Todd Valley and Foresthill, Cal Fire Chief of Operations Landon Haack said during an evening briefing. Firefighting resources trying to stop the fire from spreading to other areas were diverted to help contain the line below the community, authorities said. “They’ve got a very important battle going on out there as we speak. They’re trying very hard to keep that fire in that box right there,” Haack said. The fire had jumped a meandering area in the river where wind swirls and pushes smoke and embers, Cal Fire fire behavior analyst Jonathan Pangburn explained in the update. Additional evacuations were ordered Tuesday afternoon, including in the community of Stumpy Meadows, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. The Mosquito Fire continues to push steadily eastward into densely forested areas with extremely dry vegetation, officials said. Before winds cleared the smoke on Tuesday, it created unhealthy air quality in the area due to the high concentration of particulate matter from the fire in the air. Smoke crossed state lines and into Nevada, where the US Air Quality Index reported “very unhealthy” air quality. The fire is one of many burning in the West and choking the air with smoke. More than 800,000 acres have burned in 93 large active fires and complexes across the West, according to the National Fire Service Center. In Oregon, the lightning-sparked Cedar Creek Fire has quadrupled in size since last week, burning about 92,548 acres. as of Tuesday and was still burning with 0% restriction.
Fires burn in parched lands amid an unrelenting drought
Frying under rising temperatures, drought-stricken western states are home to growing areas of dry, easily-burning brush that can become fuel for more volatile wildfires. The fires are also burning amid a water emergency that is forcing residents to limit outdoor watering as California’s reservoirs shrink. In the Golden State, residents are facing unprecedented water restrictions. The Metropolitan Water District first declared a water emergency in April, limiting outdoor watering for millions of residents in dozens of Southern California cities. For the third month in a row, Los Angeles residents cut water use last month to a record low for any August, despite temperatures averaging 3 to 5 degrees warmer, Mayor Eric Garcetti said. Water consumption by Los Angeles residents in August was 10 percent lower than in the same month over the past two years, according to Garcetti. “In the face of record monthly heat, Angelenos have gone above and beyond to find additional ways to mitigate — and as we continue to battle soaring temperatures and deal with drying reservoirs, I know Los Angeles will continue to it shows our region and the rest of the world what meaningful conservation looks like,” the mayor said in a statement. CNN’s Taylor Romine contributed to this report.
