Shasta Lake’s Salt Fire Grows to 2,800 Acres, Forcing Evacuations and Closing I-5 in Both Directions

Another wildfire has broken out in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, this time near Lakehead along Shasta Lake. The fire began Wednesday afternoon and has grown to 2,800 acres with no containment. There are evacuation orders in the area and Interstate 5 remains closed in both directions.

The third major fire to burn in the national forest is causing more evacuations in the region. There is currently a mandatory evacuation order issued for the following locations:

  • Zola Drive
  • Cordes Court
  • Solus Campground Road
  • Tom Head
  • Old Mill Road
  • Antlers View Road
  • Toms Head Road

There is also an evacuation warning issued for the area west of I-5 from the south end of Lakeshore Drive to the north end of Lakeshore Drive. An evacuation center has been set up at Central Valley High School.

The fire is causing serious issues for travel in the northstate, closing down I-5 north of Redding in both directions. Northbound traffic is closed at Fawndale and southbound traffic is closed just south of Lakehead. With no estimated reopening time, travelers are urged to take another route, most likely taking SR-299 east up through Burney and then head north on SR-89.

I-5 closures

Videos on social media showed the fire pushing a huge cloud of smoke over the Shasta Lake region:

This is the third major fire in the Shasta Trinity National Forest this week, with the Lava and Tenant fires burning a combined 28,000 acres north of Mount Shasta and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.

We will continue to report on the situation as more information is made available.

Active NorCal

Telling the Stories of Northern California

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button