One lane open on Interstate 80 at Gold Run after big rig sparks forest fire, officials say

Westbound Interstate 80 was temporarily closed at Gold Run due to a small forest fire caused by a big rig Sunday afternoon.

In a social media update at 2 p.m., officials from Caltrans District 3 said westbound lanes of traffic were closed at I-80’s Secret Town Road offramp and that traffic was being diverted at the Gold Run Road exit. By 4:15 p.m., Caltrans’ road conditions page showed that one lane was reopened on the highway. Caltrans live cameras show traffic is still backed up and moving slowly.

California Highway Patrol incident logs indicate that a truck caught fire on the right-hand shoulder at 1:10 p.m., and that the fire quickly spread up a hillside and into nearby forestland.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said the fire was between 1 and 2 acres wide.

Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit, alongside Placer Hills Fire Protection District, responded to the fire.

A Cal Fire NEU spokesperson said in a text to The Sacramento Bee that as of 3:15 p.m., the fire was contained at 1.1 acres, but the big rig’s trailer was a “complete loss.” CHP logs say the truck was “melted to the ground.”

Around that same time, all aircraft were released from the area and crews were working on mopping up the remaining flames and reopening the highway, according to Cal Fire officials.

Cal Fire has dubbed the blaze the Magra Fire.

This story was originally published May 9, 2021 at 2:30 PM.