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.
New video of the #SaltFire burning in Shasta County. Officials say there are growing concerns they may have to shut down Northbound lanes on I5. pic.twitter.com/2eOZneYH4O
— Blakely McHugh (@bmchughtv) July 1, 2021
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.
Videos on social media showed the fire pushing a huge cloud of smoke over the Shasta Lake region:
We drove southbound on I-5 to Redding at 1pm today. Shortly thereafter the #saltfire started. This video was taken at 6pm heading back to Dunsmuir. pic.twitter.com/CrHby3rXG9
— Ben Wu (@BenWu2) July 1, 2021
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.
