I-5 must remain closed until at least Saturday

As the ashes of Delta's fire fell, Daniel Harsh, the owner of Pollard Flat Food and Fuel, considered himself a lucky man on Friday.

That's because his restaurant and gas station have narrowly escaped the Delta Fire.

"I'm still here," he said.

Harsh, who was forced to evacuate his business in the Mount Shasta area due to the fire, briefly returned Friday morning to put gasoline in the generator outside his company so to keep his refrigerators running.

And Harsh said his company was only abandoned because of the firefighters' quick work.

"The firefighters saved us," he said. "We had some fire damage on some sheds, but they saved everything."

Still, it was a close call because it told the terrifying moments when it seemed like the fire had its restaurant in its viewfinder.

TO CLOSE

Firefighters fought the Delta Fire which began Wednesday near Lakehead with burning operations and building containment lines on Friday.
Jim Schultz, searchlight

He said the fire had created its own time with gusts of 40 mph and swirling dust all around the parking lot.

"It was moving that way," he added, adding that the sheriff's firefighters and officials had quickly ordered him, his wife, and their clients to evacuate.

But, he added, the significant presence of firefighters and law enforcement officials has helped keep it relatively calm.

"There were so many people here that you felt good," he said.

Unfortunately, the fire did not spare a house just south of the business, which was left in shambles.

The owners of the house were able to go out safely, however, their son, Doug Kulak, wrote in a message from GoFundMe.

Kulak, who said that his parents had lost everything in the fire, hopes to raise $ 5,000 to try to help them.

"My parents would never ask for help, but I know they do not even have clothes right now, so I ask for help," Kulak wrote.

Meanwhile, a number of evacuations have remained in Shasta County, Sheriff Tom Bosenko said at a press conference Friday afternoon.

He said the evacuations are taking place in the Dog Creek, Vollmers and Pollard Flat area. An evacuation center has been installed at the arsenal of the Yreka National Guard.

The Red Cross Redding is looking to set up another evacuation center, but the location has not been determined, he added.

The fire is located about 11 miles from Castella and 15 miles from Dunsmuir, in Siskiyou County.

Dunsmuir is currently "under a warning for evacuation. Be ready, "said Bosenko.

Union Pacific Railroad, which was completely closed, was reopened for freight only, but not for passenger trains.

Joe Balthazar, Acting Chief of the Traffic Management Office at Caltrans in Redding, said 1,500 to 2,000 feet of guardrails and 500 to 800 feet of fence were damaged, and 3,500 trees were damaged. to be removed.

A 100-foot stretch of damaged concrete barrier on the median of the I-5 must be repaired or replaced.

"We have burned signs, stop signs. We are replacing them, "said Balthazar. Structural engineers examine railway crossings and level crossings for damage.

Officials also described closures in the region. They understand:

• Northbound I-5 is closed at Fawndale. Only local residents will be allowed to ride up to Riverview Drive. No traffic is permitted beyond Riverview Drive.
• I-5 Southbound is closed at Sims Road. Only local residents will be allowed to pass through Gibson Road. No traffic is allowed beyond Gibson Drive.

In other updates of Delta Fire:

Smoke does not affect air transport

United Express transportation service to and from San Francisco is not affected by the smoke, said Bryant Garrett, director of Redding Airports.

Mr Garrett said that with all the fires going on this summer, he was getting an average of 200 phone calls a week from customers asking if the Redding Municipal Airport was open.

"What I tell them is that I can not assure you that they (United Express) will be at the time, but if they are not, it's n & # 39; It has nothing to do with smoke, "Garrett said.

Redding Municipal Airport is an instrument-equipped facility, so that aircraft equipped with instruments stolen by instrument-qualified pilots can still fly inside and outside the airport, said Garrett.

However, Benton Airpark does not have an instrumented approach.

Garret said with the smoke today, you can take off from Benton but you can not land there.

Meanwhile, the Amtrak Coast Starlight service, which stops in Redding, will be interrupted Saturday between Sacramento and Klamath Falls, Oregon. Olivia Irwin, spokeswoman for Amtrak, said passengers traveling between Sacramento and Klamath Falls would be transferred to connecting buses to their destinations.

The Delta Fire continues to grow

As the veil of smoke choked on Redding on Friday, Delta's fire continued to run out of control.

It grew by nearly 3,000 acres during the night to about 24,558 acres.

The fire, which began Wednesday afternoon off I-5, near Lakehead and has spread to Trinity County, has remained at a zero percent containment rate . Friday morning

John Waldrop, Director of Shasta County's Air Quality Management District, said the air quality in Redding, depending on where you live, is unhealthy or very unhealthy .

"The city center is really bad right now," he said around 9:30.

But, he said, it's especially bad in the Lakehead area and in some parts of I-5 corridor, with monitors recording air quality at unsafe levels.

Elsewhere, air quality in Anderson and the Redding outlying areas, such as Palo Cedro, are at moderate and unhealthy levels for people sensitive to smoke.

The Kerlin fire near Hyampom, in Trinity County, also developed on Friday at 1,228 acres. Fire officials said Friday they were contained at zero percent.

Nearly 300 firefighters are fighting fire, including three helicopters and tankers when needed, fire officials said.

An evacuation order remains in effect for residents along County Road 311 between Lake Mountain Ranch and Dead Man's Point.

The American Red Cross has opened an evacuation shelter at the Solid Rock Church, at the intersection of Highway 3 and Tule Creek Road in Hayfork.

In yet another fire, the Hirz fire burning north of Redding, near Lakehead, is confined to 80%. He burned 46,150 acres.

Read or share this story: https://reddingne.ws/2Nsgth2