Overnight the small army of firefighters battling the Mosquito Fire along the middle fork of the American River were able to hold the line against a rapidly advancing wall of flames in the Todd Valley.
But fire spokesperson Scott McLean said some buildings were lost to the advancing flames just south of the community. The exact number won't be known until damage assessment teams are able to canvas the area.
More than 11,000 people have been evacuated and nearly 6,000 structures are threatened — an increase in both figures as the blaze raged Tuesday near Foresthill and Todd Valley. "It's not that it's a wind-driven fire, but the southwest flow is going to allow more air to come in," Cal Fire fire behaviorist Jonathon Pengburn told the crews."There are a lot of twists and turns in the river," he said."What that does is channel the wind and sometimes it swirls and makes an eddy ."
"There is a lot of fuel between the fire scars," Pengburn said."You have the King Fire and the American Fire, in-between you have an island where you have unburned with no fire history... Plenty to burn."
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