Park Fire closes these California highways and major roadways. Here’s where to reroute

The Park Fire continues to rage in Northern California, burning more than 385,000 acres as of Tuesday afternoon and continuing to close down highways.

According to Cal Fire, firefighters are steadily making progress on the Park Fire, with containment at 14% as of Tuesday afternoon. That is a slight increase compared to 12% on Monday.

The fire started on Upper Park Road in Upper Bidwell Park, east of Chico, and has spread past Paynes Creek in Tehama County. Parts of Butte, Plumas and Shasta counties are also being affected by the Park Fire.

It has shut down two highways so far, according to Cal Fire’s map — Highway 32 and Highway 36 East.

Highway 32 and 36 closures

As of Tuesday afternoon, the only highway affected by the fire in Butte County was Highway 32, Megan Reese, a spokesperson for the Caltrans District 3 office, told The Sacramento Bee. District 3 serves several Northern California counties including Butte and Sacramento.

Reese said it’s a full closure from the east Chico side of the highway.

According to the Caltrans website, the highway is closed from Platt Mountain Road in Forest Ranch to the Highway 36 junction in Tehama County.

“Motorists are advised to use an alternate route,” the agency said.

Caltrans’ Quick Map states there is no estimated time for the highway reopening.

Additionally, Highway 36 is closed from Red Bluff to the junction with Highway 89 near the town of Chester, said Denise Yergenson with Caltrans District 2. That Caltrans district covers counties such as Shasta, Plumas, Tehama and parts of Butte.

Other highways

According to the Caltrans “QuickMap,” Highway 172 is also under a full closure, in both the westbound and eastbound directions, from Highway 36 West to Highway 36 East.

There isn’t an estimated time of reopening, according to Caltrans.

Could Park Fire affect Highway 99? Or Highway 44?

There’s a possibility that the fire could affect Highway 99 or Highway 44, Yergenson said, but it remains unlikely at this time.

“The fire is on the east side of 99, but it’s pretty far from 99 at this point,” she told The Bee on Tuesday afternoon. “In the last two days, there’s not been a lot of movement that is jeopardizing any of the other highways like 99 and 44.”

Highway 44 is near Shingletown, which was recently put under an evacuation order, along with Manton.

“It looks like the fire crews have been holding it pretty good, away from those routes,” Yergenson said. “But we are prepared.”

She said that Caltrans is ready to conduct traffic control if needed.

Are there detours?

For those who need to head towards the Chester and Lake Almanor area, Yergenson said motorists can drive up to Highway 44 or Highway 89 and go all the way across.

“It is a big detour for someone from Chico. It’s long,” she said, adding that it may add up to two hours to the drive.