Firefighters respond to a vegetation fire that broke out Saturday afternoon in the 1600 block of Lower Springs Road and Eureka Way west of Redding.
The Lower Fire is burning at a moderate rate of spread. Multiple emergency responders, including aircraft, are on site where the fire is raging in the area of Highway 299 west of Redding.
Check back later for updates on this story.
As efforts to contain the Lower Fire continue, authorities have begun moving some equipment out of the fire lines, including at least one bulldozer, according to emergency scanner reports.
According to Cal Fire’s latest update at 7:39 p.m., the fire remains active at 110 acres.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said its evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect.
Maria Garcia and her husband, Jose, were among about two dozen evacuees waiting anxiously in the parking lot of a shopping center on Eureka Way early Saturday night, sitting in their cars or on folding chairs, impatiently awaiting news of what had happened to their homes.
After losing their Cagle Lane home in the Carr Fire, the couple now lives in a mobile home on Iron Mountain Road. They said they had about an hour to load their Honda Accord sedan with clothes and their dog, Coco, who was waiting with them in a kennel cage.
The Garcias’ daughter, Maria Gutierez, said her parents could see the fire right behind their house as they left. “They’re really worried. They don’t want to lose another home,” Gutierez said.
Another evacuee, Jose Macias, said his family had only moved into their home on Old Stagecoach Road about a year ago. “We saw the sheriff going door to door telling people to leave. When we saw that, we said, ‘It’s time to go,'” Macias said while holding the leash of his French bulldog, Cherry. And Charlotte Scott, who lives in the Trinity Center neighborhood, had driven into Redding to do some shopping. As she was coming out of a restaurant around 4 p.m., she said she saw smoke.
Since Highway 299 is closed because of the fire, she will probably get a hotel room for the night, she said.
The Lower Fire has reached 110 acres, Cal Fire spokeswoman Jas Shaw said. Aircraft will be battling the fire for the next few hours, Shaw said. She said firefighters are making “good progress” and expect to work throughout the night. The evacuation shelter for the Lower Fire will be set up at Central Valley High School, 4066 La Mesa Avenue in the town of Shasta Lake.
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in Shasta County due to the Lower Fire raging in the Highway 299 area west of Redding, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office announced shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday.
Evacuation orders have been issued for the following zones: SHS-2830, SHS-2820, SHS-6520, SHS-6530, SHS-6540, SHS-2850, SHS-2800, SHS-2870, KES-2790.
Evacuation alerts have also been issued for the following zones: SHS-2880, SHS-2890, KES-2760, KES-2770, KES-2750, KES-2900.
All zones can be found at https://protect.genasys.com/search
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the fire in Lower Fire broke out shortly before 4 p.m. By 6 p.m., the fire had already spread to 45 hectares, according to Cal Fire.
Highway 299 is closed to all traffic at Buenaventura Boulevard and Old Shasta.
The assembly point for the evacuation is the shopping center at Eureka Way and Buenaventura Boulevard.
This is a developing story, please check back for more information as it becomes available.
