Caltrans boosts freeway cleanup to curb grass fire threats

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - As summertime approaches, Caltrans crews successful Fresno are hitting the freeways daily, clearing adust writer and removing debris to trim occurrence hazard and amended operator visibility.

The yearly cleanup comes amid a noticeable uptick successful freeway fires and expanding hazards caused by overgrown vegetation.

Safety First: Clearing the Way for Summer. 

Drivers on Fresno’s highways — including 168, 41, 99, and 180 — person apt precocious seen Caltrans workers successful agleam orangish vests and hard hats hard astatine enactment on the shoulders and embankments.

“Bear with us. We are retired there. We person each of our instrumentality up and running,” said Caltrans' Larry Johnson.

From heavy-duty mowers to crews connected ft with weed trimmers, the enactment spans dozens of miles and focuses connected some level terrain and steep off-ramps.

“It’s a batch of miles to cover, but we’ll get to it. It’s conscionable precise time-consuming astatine this point,” Johnson said.

Preventing Fires Before They Start

This year’s cleanup efforts instrumentality connected added urgency owed to a spike successful writer fires crossed Fresno.

“As the temperatures person been warming up, we’ve seen an summation of fires passim the metropolis and on the freeways,” said Josh Sellers, PIO for the Fresno Fire Department.

So acold successful 2025, 225 writer fires person been reported successful Fresno — a 20% summation implicit the 202 fires recorded by this clip past year.

Freeway fires are peculiarly unsafe owed to their location: 

• Lack of occurrence hydrants on roadways
• High-speed postulation endangers firefighters
• Limited entree points for exigency vehicles

“Traffic and deficiency of h2o proviso connected freeways make important hazards for our personnel,” Sellers said.

In summation to preventing fires, Caltrans cleanups besides amended visibility for drivers by addressing line-of-sight issues caused by gangly writer and scattered trash. These tiny actions tin forestall large accidents.

Help Keep Fresno Freeways Safe

The cleanup operations are scheduled to proceed done the extremity of the month, but Caltrans encourages nationalist participation.

“If drivers spot imaginable hazards similar gangly writer oregon debris on the freeways, springiness america a call. We’ll code those issues arsenic soon arsenic possible,” Johnson said.

If you spot a occupation connected the freeway, drivers are asked to interaction Caltrans to study hazards and assistance support Fresno’s roadways harmless and fire-free this summer. Click present for much information.