Grass fires in Vacaville briefly close I-505; freeway also shut near Winters

Both directions of Interstate 505 were shut down in two separate locations Saturday afternoon after six fires broke out in Solano and Yolo counties, according to the California Highway Patrol.

In Vacaville, fire officials and residents of the area were reporting multiple fires at the junction of Interstates 80 and 505 around 5 p.m. According to CHP logs, there were six different fires near each other, and one of the fires “jumped” Vaca Valley Parkway and was “now traveling towards houses.” Vacaville Fire officials requested I-505 shut down just after 5 p.m.

The Vacaville Fire Department said at 6:30 p.m that forward progress of the fires had been stopped. “Crews are mopping up the smoldering materials,” the fire department said.

Near Winters, California Highway Patrol logs from 4:46 p.m. indicated a “fire had gone quite a distance,” along the center divide of the freeway, prompting units in Woodland and Solano to shut the road down along with on-ramps to Highway 128 into Winters.

Caltrans said just before 5:30 p.m. that the fire was out and lanes were reopened.

No injuries were reported.

This story was originally published July 11, 2020 at 5:10 PM.