Visibility drops to a mile as smoke pours into Valley

Visibility in Minden dropped briefly to a mile after smoke from a fire burning 50 miles due west of Carson Valley sent air quality into unhealthy levels on Thursday.

Minden-Tahoe Airport showed visibility started dropping rapidly at 3:40 p.m. as smoke from the Mosquito Fire poured over the Sierra.

The air quality index at the Gardnerville Ranchos permanent monitor went from moderate at 4 p.m. to unhealthy at 5 p.m. as the wind shifted out of the northwest, turning the sun orange.

There were reports of ash falling from the fire along the eastern slope of the Sierra.

Officially, the fire grew to 13,705 acres on Thursday, according to the Fire Information for Resource Management System site. Satellite mapping indicates hot spots covering nearly 19,000 acres.

The fire has expanded 10 times since Wednesday morning after being discovered Tuesday evening near Oxbow Reservoir 18 miles northeast of Placerville.

As of Thursday evening, CalFire officials reported zero containment.

Depending on the fire and wind conditions, smoke and haze is expected to linger into Friday

Smoky conditions were similar to those caused by last year’s Caldor Fire, which burned up the West Slope, causing the evacuation of South Lake Tahoe and parts of Stateline last year.