Wildfire near Foresthill, Placer County, CA, prompts evacuations
A wildfire that sparked Tuesday in the Tahoe National Forest just north of the border between Placer and El Dorado counties is displaying “extreme” fire behavior Wednesday, prompting mandatory evacuations including Foresthill, a town of about 1,500 people, and sending up a large smoke plume visible across the greater Sacramento area. The Mosquito Fire, at first called the Volcano Fire when it started just after 6 p.m. Tuesday, was burning just north of Oxbow Reservoir along the Middle Fork of the American River, which divides El Dorado and Placer counties. The fire started east of Foresthill, according to the U.S. Forest Service, and was 0% contained. Fire officials in an update shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday reported the fire had burned 4,223 acres; up from 2,000 acres reported at 2:45 p.m. and 1,200 acres at 11 a.m.