UPDATED: All Lanes Reopen on I-15 Following Tanker Truck Fire

Wednesday Update:

Caltrans reports that all lanes have been reopened Wednesday morning for southbound traffic on I-15 at Nichols Road. They reopened around 5a.m.

The shoulder, however, remains closed for “final repair.”

Update 10 p.m.:

All but one southbound lane on Interstate 15 in Lake Elsinore remain closed as crews continue to clear the burned-out wreckage of a tanker truck that went up in flames Tuesday afternoon.

According to Caltrans, it’s still unknown when the other lanes will reopen. CHP logs indicate that the number two lane may open up around 1 a.m., but that can change.

Drivers are advised to avoid the area if possible.

Update 6:30 p.m.:

The CHP has opened the fast lane on the southbound 15, but it remains unknown when the remaining three lanes will be cleared for travel.

Several cars have resorted to illegally using the right hand emergency lane to try to get out of the horrible traffic, logs indicate.

Original story as follows:

All southbound lanes of Interstate 15 have been closed north of Nichols Road in the Lake Elsinore area due to a tanker truck burning on the freeway, officials confirm to Patch.

CHP officials tell Patch that people are being taken off the roadway at Lake and being rerouted to Nichols.

The agency is reporting that the tanker truck was carrying an estimated 8,700 gallons of gas, which burned for nearly three hours. Traffic is backed up for miles in the area.

The non-injury fire was first reported at 1:05 p.m. on southbound I-15. Ten minutes after the fire began, CHP officers closed both sides of the interstate and a SigAlert was issued.

Though both directions of traffic had been temporarily shut down, as of 2:55 p.m., the northbound lanes were being reopened, according to a CHP dispatcher.

According to witnesses, one of the big rig’s tires shredded and ignited the underbelly of the vehicle, after which flames rapidly spread to the thousands of gallons of unleaded petrol in the trailer.

The driver managed to park the truck on the right shoulder of the freeway, then fled before his cab was overcome by flames, according to the CHP.

Riverside County firefighters reached the location a few minutes later. Nine engine crews and a truck company, numbering about 44 personnel, were at the scene, an agency spokeswoman said.

Freeway traffic was clogged into Murrieta to the south and the Temescal Valley to the north, the CHP said.

Officers directed traffic off the freeway at Nichols, as well as Lake Street to the north, turning both roadways into virtual parking lots.

Patch will update this breaking news story as more information becomes available. Refresh for the latest.