California's Mosquito Fire burning in the Tahoe National Forest 60 miles northeast of Sacramento finally slowed down on Friday.
burning in the Tahoe National Forest 60 miles northeast of Sacramento finally slowed down on Friday and grew minimally overnight with about 4,000 acres of growth. This was a stark difference from what unfolded on Thursday when the fire was roughly 8,000 acres in the morning, and then exploded in size by 21,000 acres in the afternoon as flames jumped the American River and pushed into El Dorado County and the town of Volcanoville.
The reason for the extreme differences in fire growth is the weather, Rob Scott, a fire behavior analyst at the U.S. Forest Service, explained at aScott said that on Thursday when the fire saw explosive growth temperatures were in the high 90s, relative humidities were 15% and winds were up to 6 mph. On Friday, relative humidities rose to 20%, temperatures dropped to 85 degrees and winds were zero to 3 mph.
"There was no large fire growth, no giant [smoke] column, no picture on Facebook that looked like a volcano going off," Scott said."That’s a good day considering what we've been seeing. If the smoke stays over the fire, the fire is capped." Scorched vehicles rest in a clearing as the Mosquito Fire burns along Michigan Bluff Road in unincorporated Placer County, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022.The Mosquito Fire was first reported at 6:27 p.m. on Tuesday, 3 miles east of the Placer County town of Foresthill, near the Oxbow Reservoir. Flames spread as a record-breaking heat wave brought scorching temperatures to California for days.
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