Coquihalla reopens after fire

Photo: Contributed - Nancy Fair

12:30 p.m. update: Highway 5 northbound has reopened from Hope to Merritt, but southbound lanes are still closed.

There are detours available via Highway 8 to Highway 1. This will add an additional 1.5 hours of driving times.

Estimated time of opening to single lane traffic is at 2:30 p.m.

11:10 a.m.: Southbound traffic has come to a stop on the Coquihalla Highway between Merritt and Hope.

The southbound lanes have been completely shut down due to a semi-truck fire just south of the Great Bear Snowshed.

The fire occurred about 10:45 Monday morning.

DriveBC does not have an estimated time of re-opening.

The situation will be reassessed later this morning.