Smoke from Mosquito fire cancels, delays cycling events

The Tour de Tahoe scheduled for Sunday has succumbed to the smoke from the Mosquito Fire.

“At this point the fire is zero percent contained and quadrupled in size today alone,” according to the group’s website. “With cycling being a heavy cardio activity that does not pair well with terrible air quality. At this point we’ve decided to cancel the ride and wanted to get this information out as many people had travel plans or reservations for the Tahoe area.”

More than 1,500 bicyclists were signed up for the ride around Lake Tahoe.

The tour was also canceled last year due to smoke from the Caldor Fire and in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Organizers have postponed this weekend’s Walker River Rendezvous bicycle race at the Walker River Recreation Area due to the smoke until Sept. 17-18.

As of lunchtime, there have been no reports that any Western Nevada football games scheduled for Friday night have been canceled due to the smoky conditions.

The Mosquito Fire burning between Interstate 80 and Highway 50 on the west slope of the Sierra is expected to send another wave of smoke into Western Nevada this afternoon.

The fire has officially grown to 29,585 acres with zero containment, according to the Tahoe National Forest on the federal government’s Inciweb site.

Satellite mapping on the Fire Information for Resource Management System indicates that as much as 38,000 acres are affected by the fire.

Smoke from the fire, which is burning 50 miles due west of Minden is expected to build again this afternoon as the fire picks up energy.

An air quality gauge in Minden dropped to unhealth levels with an index of 189 at 11 a.m., according to fire.airnow.gov The same gauge peaked in the hazardous range 6 p.m. Thursday.

“Ongoing area wildfires will impact the region with degraded air quality from smoke and haze,” Reno Weather Service Meteorologist Tony Fuentes said early Friday morning. “Areas across the Tahoe Basin and into the Carson Valley could see another wave of mid-afternoon smoke from the Mosquito wildfire which will continue unhealthy air quality in the region.”

As many as 1,700 firefighters, including 44 engines, 267 bulldozers, multiple helicopters and fixed-wing helicopters are working the blaze. Residents in the region have been evacuated.

A red flag warning for critical fire danger is in effect on the west slope of the Sierra.

Firefighting personnel continue to focus on scouting and building containment lines through the removal of fire fuels, and tactical patrol around the fire perimeter,” fire officials said on Friday. “This involves both manual line construction with hand crews and mechanical line construction utilizing bulldozers. Very steep terrain will continue to challenge all personnel and make direct attack difficult.”

As of Friday, containment is estimated at Oct. 15.