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A fire rages as motorists travel on Interstate 5 near Shasta Lake, California on Wednesday, September 5, 2018. (Jerri Tubbs via AP)
REDDING, California – Both directions of a major highway linking California and Oregon were closed and evacuations were ordered Wednesday when a high-speed forest fire swept through a wilderness area.
The fire in Shasta County was reported in the afternoon and in a few hours it burned nearly 21 square kilometers of woodland and scrub in the Shasta-Trinity Forest about 200 miles away north of San Francisco.
The fire was caused by the man, said fire officials. However, they did not indicate whether it was a arson or an accident.
The fire cut miles off Interstate 5 and there was no immediate response to the reopening. The fire also delayed Coast Starlight service from Amtrak between Sacramento and Oregon.
Images posted by KRCR-TV from Redding showed flames and plumes of black smoke as trucks and cars were left on the side of Interstate 5.
Several trucks were burned and will have to be removed before the road can reopen.
In a video, a passenger in a vehicle on the highway shouts, "Oh my God, I want to go!" as the trees catch fire and the flames rise to the hillside beside the road.
The main highway was closed 16 km north of Redding and south of Mount Shasta. Forest spokesman Kerry Greene said the Delta Fire was not burning immediately around the big cities but was threatening a number of structures in an area of campgrounds, recreational homes and cabins.
It comes just weeks after a devastating fire destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and killed eight people in the same area. This fire, Carr's fire, was declared content last week.
Meanwhile, a forest fire in eastern Sierra Nevada, California, continued to grow and the impact on travel has increased, officials said.
State Route 108 was closed from the Alpine-Mono County line to the US 395 station, which was already closed in the mountainous region about 320 kilometers east of Sacramento, indicated the California Department of Transportation.
Caltrans said the closure of the 395 U.S. bridge was extending from the town of Bridgeport south to the Walker community.
The fire started on Tuesday in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The evacuation orders remained in effect for the Bootleg, Chris Flat and Sonora Bridge campgrounds. Unspecified structures were at risk in the Burchum Flats area, east of Walker Canyon.
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