A couple of early morning crashes blocked some slippery major highways in Shasta County. Southbound Interstate 5 was completely blocked by a big rig that tipped over at 4:13AM at the Pit River Bridge over Lake Shasta. Traffic backed up to north of Shasta Caverns Road. Heavy duty tow trucks attempted to drag the big rig out of the way to partially clear the road but the trailer shattered and 42,000 pounds of food scattered all over the traffic lanes. The truck driver was taken by ambulance with unknown injuries. With the freeway blocked, multiple other vehicles collided with each other on the icy surface. The northbound lanes have had to be intermittently blocked to allow emergency to drive the wrong way and access the crash scene. At 5:37AM enough space was cleared on the freeway shoulder to allow traffic to begin trickling through. At 3:35AM on Highway 299 in the Montgomery Creek area, as Honda Pilot collided with three cows in the roadway, killing at least one of them. The driver was not injured but it took a while to clear the beef.
-Steve Gibson