Mosquito Fire in California grows to almost 50,000 acres

Los Angeles [US], September 14: The Mosquito Fire, actively burning in Placer County and El Dorado County in the western U.S. state of California, grew to 49,761 acres (201.4 square kilometers) Tuesday morning, even though firefighters said they continued to make progress building and strengthening control lines around the blaze.
The Mosquito Fire, first reported on the evening of Sept. 6, had destroyed 46 structures, damaged 5 structures and was still threatening 5,848 structures, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said in its latest briefing, adding that 11,260 people had been evacuated since the fire started.
Cal Fire also said the steep and rugged terrain of the fire makes it difficult for crews to access the fire directly. Moreover, the use of aircraft was limited sometimes due to the continued inversion layer over the fire area.
Video posted online showed several helicopters were used for water-dropping operations in the late afternoon hours Monday and a Cal Fire Hawk helicopter continued to be available and utilized for nighttime water-dropping missions.
Cal Fire hoped to fully contain the fire by Oct. 15.
However, containment is not a measure of how much of the fire is extinguished but rather a gauge as to how much of a line crews have around the fire perimeter to prevent the fire from spreading.
Surce: Xinhua