Opening night
Music On the Divide
‘Good People’ takes to The Stage in Burke Junction.
Joe Craven and The Sometimers to rock Georgetown.
News, etc., B1
Prospecting, B2
171
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C ali forn ia’s Olde st Ne w spaper
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Volume 171 • Issue 105 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, September 9, 2022 A forest fire burning at the Placer-El Dorado County line has hit 6,870 acres.
Photo courtesy of Cal Fire
Fire crosses county line Mountain Democrat staff Flames from a forest fire burning in Placer County at the county line jumped the river canyon into El Dorado County Thursday afternoon. Emergency personnel were attempting to put a hard closure in place on Wentworth Springs Road from Breedlove Road to Stumpy Meadows Reservoir, with a soft closure clear to Main Street in Georgetown, according to scanner traffic. “Extreme, active fire is headed toward Wentworth Springs Road,” reported one emergency responder. Mandatory evacuations and evacuation warnings that have since been upgraded were ordered Tuesday for residents of the Volcanoville and Quintette areas as the fire, dubbed the Mosquito Fire, raged out of control on the north side of Oxbow Reservoir and the n
Mountain Democrat photos by Eric Jaramishian
El Dorado County Department of Transportation staff break ground Sept. 6 on the new, $93 million bridge to Mosquito.
Bridge work begins $93 million project county’s biggest
Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
See Forest fire, page A8
Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service
Firefighters contained a 3.6-acre fire in Grizzly Flat in the Caldor Fire burn scar Tuesday.
Caldor flare-up burns 3.6 acres Mountain Democrat staff Firefighters went to work on a vegetation fire near Sciaroni Road in Grizzly Flat Tuesday PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
afternoon, holding the blaze to 3.6 acres, according to reports from fire officials. A tree smoldering from last year’s Caldor Fire flared up and caused the fire, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Jennifer Chapman told the Mountain Democrat. The fire was burning in steep, rugged terrain at a slow rate of speed. Air tankers were called to drop retardant to assist the firefight on the ground. Fire crews with the U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire first responded to the incident at about 1 p.m. Report the blaze’s forward progress had been stopped came at 2:40 p.m.
T
he longanticipated construction of the new Mosquito Bridge at the South Fork of the American River is under way. At a Sept. 6 groundbreaking event for the project off the 8,000 block of Mosquito Road county leaders, Department of Transportation staff and Shimmick Construction workers gathered in excitement for the start of the longanticipated project. “We feel we have a wonderful contractor, a wonderful consultant and team,” said El Dorado County Director of Transportation Rafael Martinez. “It’s just perfectly poised for us to embark on such a great project for a community that is going to be getting a bridge that they so direly need.” Serving area residents since 1867, the historical Mosquito Bridge is one of three suspension bridges like it west of the Mississippi River. Once the new bridge is complete the old bridge will remain open for pedestrian use only. The ridgetop to ridgetop replacement project is a big one. Previously, Martinez
El Dorado County Department of Transportation Director Rafael Martinez presents a rendering of the ridgetop-to-ridgetop project said this would be the biggest capital project ever to be constructed in county history. It has a price tag of $93 million that will be fully reimbursed to the county, courtesy of the federal Highway Bridge Program. In addition to soaring 400 feet above the river channel, the new bridge will span 1,180 feet across the canyon. The bridge includes two, 12-foot-wide lanes with 5-foot shoulders, a 54-inchhigh barrier with tubular railing, timber textured barriers and rock texturing. The first part of construction includes realigning Mosquito Road on the north n
Expect delays on Mosquito Road El Dorado County CAO El Dorado County’s Department of Transportation will continue daily and intermittent traffic controls on Mosquito Road Sept. 12 through Nov. 23, 2022. Full road closures will not be needed. The controls are scheduled during weekdays but weekend controls may be needed in the future. Traffic control measures will continue to require reversing traffic controls and pilot vehicles along with advanced flaggers, construction signs and changeable message boards. Various locations of
Mosquito Road will utilize these traffic controls at various times and dates from Union Ridge Road to Rock Creek Road. Unless there is a public safety concern, traffic stops are intended to be no longer than 10 minutes but could be longer depending upon traffic of slow-moving equipment and wide loads. Traffic will be released as soon as there is safe travel through the work zones. The public should anticipate delays, drive the posted speed limits and anticipate slowdowns in work zones. The detour via Rock Creek Road continues to be an n
See delays, page A8
See bridge, page A8
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