FORESTHILL, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters again prevented flames from entering a Northern California mountain town and reported major progress Thursday against the week-old blaze that’s become the largest in the state so far this year.
Conditions at the Mosquito Fire about 110 miles northeast of San Francisco were “looking a whole heck of a lot better,” according to fire spokesman Scott McLean.
Crews on the ground built up containment lines while water-dropping helicopters knocked down hotspots after the fire roared back to life on Tuesday, burning structures near Foresthill.
“It’s looking really good on the west end where we had that dramatic increase of fire earlier this week,” McLean said Thursday. Flames raced up a drainage ditch into a neighborhood, but firefighters saved all the homes.
Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. In the last five years, California has experienced the largest and most destructive fires in its history.
