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REDDING, Calif. (AP) – The two directions of a major road linking California and Oregon have been closed and evacuations were ordered Wednesday when a rapid 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 8 square kilometers of scrub and woodland in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest at around 200 miles north of San Francisco.
The fire was caused by the man, said fire officials. However, they did not indicate whether it was arson or an accident.
The fire cut miles off Interstate 5 and there was no immediate response to the reopening. The fire also delayed the Amtrak Coast Starlight service 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 screams, "Oh my God, I want to go!", As the trees catch fire and the flames rise up the hillside beside the road.
The main highway was closed 10 miles north of Redding, in an area just 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.
At the same time, 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 200 miles 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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