The Mosquito Fire burning in Tahoe National Forest was threatening an historic Gold Rush city. It additionally created an unlimited plume of smoke seen from 60 miles away, a column of sizzling air referred to as a pyrocumulus cloud.
We’ll be monitoring all the most recent news on the Mosquito Fire and different main California wildfires all through the day.
Bay Area air high quality advisory issued because of wildfire smoke
Smoke from wildfires in California and Oregon was anticipated to impression the Bay Area via Friday, in line with an advisory issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Pollutant ranges usually are not anticipated to exceed the nationwide well being customary right now, however many of the coastal area was experiencing average air high quality with inland areas at elevated danger for being unhealthy for delicate teams. A Spare The Air alert was beforehand issued because of smog on Thursday.
How Mosquito Fire smoke may impression California’s energy grid
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Smoke from Mosquito Fire may impression California’s already-strained grid for higher or for worse Thursday.
Thursday’s Flex Alert moved up one hour to start at 3 p.m., partially due to uncertainty over how renewables — particularly photo voltaic — will carry out this afternoon and night.Smoke and cloud cowl may scale back energy demand in populated areas, however may additionally scale back solar energy era if it rests over photo voltaic fields, the grid operator’s chief working officer Mark Rothleder stated at a Thursday press name.
“It varies where the smoke is … whether the supply impacts or the load impacts are greater,” Rothleder stated.
Hundreds of constructions threatened by Fork Fire
About 400 constructions are underneath risk as a result of Fork Fire, which has burned across 773 acres in Madera County, according to Cal Fire. The Madera County Sheriff’s Office ordered evacuations for greater than 1,000 residents throughout the area southeast of Bass Lake, Oakhurst and Yosemite National Park, according to local media reports.
Mosquito Fire damages constructions in Michigan Bluff, threatens “critical infrastructure”
The Mosquito Fire is also a threat to “critical infrastructure” including the Placer County Water Agency pump station and dam, the Placer County Fire Repeater Site, 230 kV transmission lines, the Sugar Pine Dam and community drinking water supply, the Ralston hydroelectric powerhouse and cellular and microwave transmission towers, according to a statement from Cal Fire.
Firefighters battle the Mosquito Fire close to Michigan Bluff in unincorporated Placer County, Calif. Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022.
Stephen Lam / The ChroniclePG&E submits incident report for Mosquito Fire
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. submitted an incident report to the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday “out of an abundance of caution,” noting that it entails an occasion which will meet the property injury reporting necessities. The utility firm stated that warning tape has been positioned across the base of a PG&E transmission pole by the U.S. Forest Service close to the suspected place to begin of the Mosquito Fire. The report stated that the reason for the fireplace is underneath investigation and its inner investigation is ongoing.
Deadly Fairview Fire in Southern California explodes in dimension
The Fairview Fire burning east of Hemet (Riverside County) exploded in size overnight from 9,800 acres to over 18,500 acres as of Thursday afternoon, Cal Fire said. Eastern winds pushed the fireplace to the west Wednesday night, hearth officers stated. The hearth sparked Monday and was 5% contained as of Thursday afternoon.
Two individuals have died and one particular person was injured from the fireplace. More than 1,100 hearth personnel had been battling the blaze in triple-digit warmth Thursday. The trigger remained underneath investigation, however the Los Angeles Times reported the utility firm Southern California Edison notified the Public Utilities Commission of a “circuit activity” across the similar time the fireplace was reported.
Smoke from Mosquito Fire to push into Sierra foothills
Smoke from California’s Mosquito Fire burning in Tahoe National Forest will slowly push eastward, in line with Sacramento-based National Weather Service Meteorologist Sierra Littlefield.
The inside parts of California, particularly the Sierra Nevada and its foothills, shall be most impacted, Littlefield stated.
“In the overnight hours starting around midnight, we’ll start to see smoke settle into areas in the Sierra and then slowly make its way down drainage valleys into the foothills and eastern portions of the Central Valley in the Sacramento region,” Littlefield stated.
This may result in poor air high quality within the Sacramento area early Friday morning, in line with Littlefield.
A small quantity of smoke may “meander over” to the Bay Area, resulting in hazy skies Friday.
“Where people are going to be breathing, the air doesn’t look to be impacted” within the Bay Area, Littlefield stated.
Currently, air high quality is the worst within the space surrounding and southeast of Lake Folsom, with quite a few communities starting from “Unhealthy” to “Hazardous” on the Air Quality Index, in line with knowledge from AirNow, a web site run by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Those areas will see “a little bit of clearing” via the day and into the afternoon because the smoke is pushed eastward, Littlefield stated.
California grid operator to enter emergency stage but once more as demand surges
For the fourth consecutive day, the grid operator is planning “Stage 1” emergency measures Thursday afternoon for rising provide and decreasing demand. As of 10:20 a.m., demand is predicted to peak at 50,884 megawatts — a quantity solely exceeded Tuesday. “Stage 1” emergency will final from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., the time interval of concern transferring up by one hour, and Californians are inspired to preserve energy per the state’s Flex Alert throughout that point.
Mosquito Fire: Hot climate may gasoline explosive progress
No impacts from the outer bands from Hurricane Kay were expected near the Mosquito Fire Thursday.
The primary concern for firefighting operations will be any rapid growth and ‘spotting’, meaning that embers that are blown around by afternoon breezes may produce new fires nearby.
Light rains drizzle over Fairview Fire perimeter
Hurricane Kay’s outer cloud bands are moving into Southern California this morning, and they’re bringing light rain to much of the region, including the Fairview Fire perimeter. These light rains and the added humidity will help with firefighting operations this afternoon.
Winds will gradually increase near Perris and surrounding communities to around 15-20 mph but they will be accompanied by another round of light rains.
The main concern is for lightning from any isolated thunderstorms setting off new fires in the region. For now, it’s looking like these storms will be ‘wet,’ meaning they will dump at least a tenth of an inch of rain around the fire perimeter.
Walker Fire near Mendocino 90% contained
The Walker Fire, off Highway 101 and Walker Road south, which has burned through 124 acres of the community of Willits in Mendocino County was 90% contained as of Thursday morning, according to an update from Cal Fire. “The flare-up has been mitigated,” the company stated in its state of affairs abstract. “Fire personnel worked throughout the night strengthening control lines and isolating pockets of heat.” All lanes of U.S. 101 are open in each instructions.
Mosquito Fire replace
Blistering temperatures forecast Thursday could lead to“extreme burning conditions” that cause spot fires, Cal Fire said. Evacuation orders for Michigan Bluff, parts of Foresthill and other surrounding areas remained in place, as well as evacuation warnings for Todd Valley and other areas. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Fire risk in California: Possible ‘nightmare’ scenario
The brutal California heat wave is making it difficult to contain a number of fast-moving blazes. While the larger Bay Area and Central Coast regions have not seen extreme wildfires yet this season, the extreme temperatures are further drying fuels and Hurricane Kay could arrive on the California coast this weekend, bringing lightning that could spark wildfires.
“What this extreme heat is doing is kiln-drying the vegetation, pre-baking it if you will and making things that much more flammable,” said UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, speaking Tuesday during a Twitter Spaces event. There is also potential that remnants of Hurricane Kay could creep up the California coast this weekend, bringing thunder and lightning, without rain — increasing the odds of dangerous lightning-strike fires sparking.
Read more here on how the extreme heat has increased fire risk in the Bay Area.