LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- A wildfire sparked Tuesday displayed "extreme" fire behavior Wednesday, prompting mandatory evacuations including in Foresthill, a town of about 1,500 people, and sending up a large smoke plume visible from many counties in Northern California.
As of Wednesday at local time 4:03 p.m. (0003 GMT Thursday), the Mosquito Fire had charred 4,223 acres (17.1 square km) and is zero percent contained, according to the Fire Integrated Real-time Intelligence System, or FIRIS, which is a state program that gathers aerial data of wildfires.
Pictures posted online showed that a huge, mostly vertical plume of light-colored smoke from the blaze could be seen from numerous Northern California counties.
The Mosquito Fire is the latest huge wildfire started in the Golden State, where at least three other wildfires had scorched about 20,000 acres (80.9 square km) of land.
The Mill Fire, which started near Weed in Siskiyou County on Friday, about 400 km north of Foresthill, was 3,935 acres (15.9 square km) with 65 percent containment as Wednesday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Two civilians -- women ages 66 and 73 -- were killed in the fire and three others were injured, according to local authorities. In addition, more than 90 structures had been destroyed while 900 residents remained evacuated as Wednesday.
The Mountain Fire, burning west of the Mill Fire, was 30 percent contained at 11,690 acres (47.3 square km), Cal Fire said Wednesday morning. The fire was also sparked on Friday.
In Southern California, Cal Fire said the Fairview Fire has grown to 5,000 acres (20.2 square km) with 5 percent contained. Authorities said the Fairview Fire had also killed at least two civilians.
