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This story was last updated at 3:45 p.m. on 9/5/18
Interstate 5 remains closed in both directions in northern Shasta County as a fire burns out of control on both sides of I-5. The Shasta County Sheriff’s office has ordered immediate and mandatory evacuations for areas on both sides of the highway from Lamoine Road to the Siskiyou County line.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, the fire first reported just before 1 p.m. has grown to 500 acres. A spokeswoman for the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office described the incident as rapidly changing and the fire’s behavior erratic. The blaze is reportedly spreading in a northwesterly direction.
U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kerry Greene said a robust response is underway.
“It’s 91 degrees out there, with 15 percent relative humidity, so it’s hot and dry. And there’s an east wind on the fire at about eight miles per hour with gusts to 17," she said.
Northbound traffic is being held at Fawndale road about 10 miles north of Redding, Southbound traffic is being held at Mott Road about three and a half miles south of Mount Shasta City.
“We do have federal air and ground resources committed and there’s a significant number of very large air tankers on order, making sure that we’re not diverting any aircraft due to the life threat, so they’re all headed that way and we’re doing all that we can to mitigate this fire,” she said.
If you can think of an alternate route, you may want to use it.
Fire officials are asking the public to be patient and to be especially mindful of anything that could cause a spark.