Northbound U.S. Highway 101 is closed near Salmon Creek Bridge in Southern Humboldt due to a fatal car accident, according to Caltrans, with traffic being detoured onto the Avenue of the Giants.

In a Facebook post this afternoon, the agency reports that it “is unknown when the highway will reopen.”


According to news reports on the Redheaded Blackbelt blog, the collision involving two vehicles occurred just before noon, leaving one of the cars split in half.

The California Highway Patrol is expected to release more information this afternoon, according to a post on its Facebook page.

The Garberville CHP is currently investigating a two vehicle fatal traffic collision on US-101 south of Salmon Creek Rd. Due to the collision scene and recovery of the vehicles, northbound US-101 traffic is being diverted to SR-254. Please drive safely thru the area and give emergency personnel space to work. A press release with additional information will be released in the near future.