Santa Nella-area fire shuts down I-5
Interstate 5 was closed in both directions near Santa Nella on Saturday afternoon because of a brush fire, Caltrans reported.
Heavy smoke was seen in the area in rural Merced County, with Caltrans advising motorists to detour at Highway 33.
The fire on the westbound side was contained and northbound lanes were slowly reopened, according to a California Highway Patrol call log of the incident that began about 2:30 p.m.
It was unclear if southbound traffic was again moving freely.
A tractor trailer sparked several fires along the highway, leading to outages after a power pole was burned, according to the CHP log.
Anthony Galaviz
The Fresno Bee