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NSPR aims to bring you accurate and comprehensive fire coverage in the North State. Here you will find all of our fire updates and stories.Our staff will not be providing updates on wildfires overnight. You can stay updated on the latest information by tracking and monitoring fires on social media. To ensure you're alerted if there is an emergency in your area, sign up for emergency alerts in your county, and always have an emergency kit ready to go in case of an evacuation.

Delta Fire Continues To Grow, Evacuations Remain

Marc Albert

 

This story was last updated on 9/7/18 at 9:02 a.m. 

The Delta Fire continues to grow. As of Friday morning it was 24,558 acres in size and zero percent contained.  According to the U.S. Forest Service, numerous structures are threatened and evacuation orders and warnings remain for parts of Shasta, Siskiyou and Trinity counties. The largest city under immediate threat is Dunsmuir which is under an evacuation warning. NSPR’s Marc Albert ventured through the smoke to Dunsmuir yesterday. He said residents displayed a range of emotions. Longtime resident Curtis Smith said this year’s fires have been the worst in his lifetime. 

“We got fires on both sides," Smith said. "So, I just hope nothing catches fire in here. Because if it does, it will be bad. It will be real bad." 

Interstate 5 remains closed at the Fawndale exit approximately 10 miles north of Redding, and southbound at the Mott Road exit approximately 3.6 miles south of Mt. Shasta. An evacuation shelter has been set up at Mount Shasta Community Center: 629 Alder Street, Mt. Shasta. The Siskiyou Humane Society is taking small animals: 1208 North Mount Shasta Blvd, Mt. Shasta.

1:50 p.m. update 9/6/18

According to the U.S. Forest Service the Delta Fire has crossed over into Trinity County and is moving down Hall’s Gulch.

New evacuations have been issued for residents of East Fork Road to Ramshorn Road east to the Shasta Trinity County Line. There will be a hard road closure at East Side Road and East Fork for nonresidents.

Those who live from the East Fork/East Side Road junction west to Highway 3 northward to Ramshorn Road are under an evacuation advisory.

The U.S. Forest Service is urging everyone to stay vigilant to weather changes which could adversely impact the fire’s behavior.

The Delta Fire is currently more than 15,000 acres in size.

We’re monitoring this fire and will update this post with any new information. 

10:15 a.m. update 9/5/18 

An explosive wildfire in Shasta County that closed down dozens of miles of Interstate 5 only weeks after the nearby Carr Fire that devastated Redding has tripled in size over night.

 

The Delta Fire burning timber and brush on both sides of I-5 near the community of Lamoine is now more than 15,000 acres in size, up from 5,000 acres Wednesday night. 

I-5 remains closed in both directions. Northbound traffic is being held at Fawndale Road about seven miles north of Redding. Southbound traffic is being held at Mott Road, about three and a half miles south of Mount Shasta City.

According to Brandon Vaccaro a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service immediate evacuations are in place on I-5 from exits 707 to 714 Vollmers to Gibson. 

Vaccaro said firefighters are expecting extreme fire behavior with flame lengths of up to 300 feet coming off of timber and up to 100 feet coming off of brush predicted. 

"The country that we're burning in over there is steep," he said. "The vegetation there is very dry and today the weather will probably be unfavorable for our firefighting efforts."

Vaccaro described scenes of carnage on the highway and speculated that it will be at least several days before I-5 can be reopened. 

"There are multipled vehicles that had burned in the roadway there and so they will need to get those cleared," he said. "There's also trees directly adjacent to the highway that have burned and we will need to go through those and see which ones need to be cut down before the roadway is safe to open."

An evacuation warning has been issued for the City of Dunsmuir. Vaccaro said residents should make all preparations in case that warning becomes an immediate evacuation.

"People in Dunsmuir should be at a heightened state of awareness. They should be ready for whatever changes may come in the fire behavior or the direction of the fire," he said. "Hopefully most of them are still ready from the Hirz Fire and they have a good plan for evacuation if needed." 

Vaccaro said all evacuaton plans that were in place for the Hirz Fire still exist. He said people in Dunsmuir should be vigilant in staying informed about the fire. 

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