Highway 50 reopens hours after big rig fire that snarled traffic across the Sacramento region

A big rig fire on a major Sacramento freeway Friday morning caused the capital region’s roads a getaway day of grief.

Despite the fire being extinguished Friday morning and lanes in the affected area reopening, traffic along eastbound Highway 50, southbound Interstate 5 and northbound Highway 99 had slowed to below 20 mph in most places before the afternoon commute.

Caltrans District 3 said around 3 p.m. that all lanes of the W-X portion of the freeway had reopened following the incident near 10th Street.

Fire crews were called at 8:15 a.m. to the eastbound Highway 50 just past the connector to northbound Interstate 5 when a caller reported a truck on fire on the highway. The caller reported fire in the truck’s trailer as well as the cab and the driver was struggling to put it out, according to the California Highway Patrol incident log.

Firefighters caught up to the blaze along the eastbound shoulder of the Capital City Freeway at 13th Street, according to footage from Caltrans cameras and social media posts.

The truck’s trailer was loaded with wooden pallets, the Sacramento Fire Department said in a social media post.

Crews closed off-ramps at 10th and 15th streets to fight the fire. By 8:45 a.m., crews had closed all eastbound lanes of Highway 50 coming from West Sacramento, diverting traffic to northbound and southbound lanes on Interstate 5, according to the log.

“A Big Rig is on fire along EB US-50, just east of the I-5 interchange. Several lanes are blocked. Please avoid the area while emergency crews continue to extinguish the fire!” Caltrans said in a social media post. The transportation agency has posted warnings to motorists as far west as Vacaville via its electronic signage network.

Officials at Caltrans District 3 said crews had been called to the area by CHP to help with ramp closures. Caltrans said the incident wasn’t expected to have any effect on the ongoing Fix 50 project.