Rain helps Mosquito Fire crews; residents returning home in Placer, El Dorado counties

The rain that arrived last weekend was an asset to firefighters battling the Mosquito Fire, as hoped. The accompanying wind that could have assisted the blaze didn't. So the week started with many of the more than 11,000 evacuees returning to their homes in Foresthill, Todd Valley and most fire-affected areas in El Dorado County. By Wednesday morning's briefing, just 42 people remained under evacuation order, mostly in Stumpy Meadows, where crews were busily "trying to hook a corner across the Rubicon (River)," Mosquito Fire Public Information Officer Kevin Tidwell said. The fire area received from three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches of rain, and containment more than doubled to 49 percent in a 48-hour period, mostly along the southern and western flanks, Tidwell said. "The fire has pretty much parked itself due to the storm. The rains have come to fruition over the last several days," he said. As a result, the Mosquito Fire, currently the biggest blaze in California, has stalled at 76,290 acres charred. It has destroyed 78 structures and damaged 13, but 111 structures remain threatened as crews battle the blaze on its eastern flank, challenged because rain has left the steep, rugged terrain muddy and slippery. Tidwell said there was wind from the southeast that contributed to "moderate fire behavior but no big runs of the fire." Once the rain came, the wind decreased. "Crews have utilized the opportunity of that moderated fire growth to get in there and put in a lot of direct line," Tidwell said. "In the next several days, we should see a lot more containment. Firefighters have been in a lot of these areas all along this eastern flank, trying to get down into these river drainages, and now that fire is not aggressively moving, that has allowed our crews to get right up next to the fire line and put in direct control lines." A flash flood watch was issued by the National Weather Service over the fire area because of potential ash and debris flows due to isolated thunderstorms and was due to end at midnight Wednesday. While the rain helped crews subdue the fire, Tidwell said "critically dry fuels" remain in the eastern area of the blaze. Some continued to smolder Monday afternoon. "You could still see columns coming up," he said. The forecast called for rain through Tuesday and tapering off Wednesday, Tidwell said, adding that with a warming and drying trend arriving Thursday, "Firefighters are taking advantage while the fire is down trying to knock it out. Crews are making a lot of good progress on the eastern edge to do that before we get those dryer, warming temperatures."