A Thursday afternoon fire from a homeless encampment under the Banner Lava Cap overpass of Highway 49 caused issues for firefighters, Caltrans, and law enforcement officials after the fire ignited timbers within the bridge, forcing firefighters to make an enclosed space entry before deeming the structure safe.

Firefighters were on scene of the reported vegetation fire at 2:22 p.m., and had the forward progress of the fire stopped within 15 minutes.

“Fire initially headed towards two homes,” Battalion Chief Chris Armstrong said. “First company came in and made that their priority to protect.”

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Nevada County deputies reported making contact with one person in connection with the fire.

While extinguishing the fire, firefighters noticed smoke was coming from the inside of the overpass — and out through vents on the underside — prompting them to gain access to the interior crawl spaces from the top of the Banner Lava Cap overpass.

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Firefighters conducted a confined space entry, using personnel from Grass Valley Fire, Cal Fire, Nevada County Consolidated, CHP, and Caltrans crews, among others.

After removing some smoldering timbers possibly left from the construction of the overpass, the structure was deemed safe by a Caltrans senior engineer. Banner Lava Cap at Nevada City Highway/Ridge Road was reopened by 6 p.m.

According to the senior engineer, the structure will be further evaluated in the coming days.

To contact Multimedia Reporter Elias Funez, email efunez@theunion.com or call 530-477-4230