PLACER COUNTY — Workers were still working to fully reopen Interstate 80 in Northern California after a Tesla semi-trailer fire near Emigrant Gap.

It started when a semi-truck left the road and hit the trees around 3 a.m. Monday, causing significant delays for travelers in both directions.

“So far we’re doing well, we drove to Colfax with no problem. Here we are. We’re grabbing a sandwich. We don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out,” said Richard Bernstein, who is traveling to Tahoe.

Some people tried to go on a camping trip.

“We were really looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer. We’re not sure how many more times we’ll be able to go camping with the good weather,” said Vacaville resident Joshua Ice.

Saul Garcia was coming from Pollock Pines to get to a job near Quincy when he got stuck.

“We were supposed to be there around 5:30 a.m., but we were stuck. We’ve been waiting since about 4 a.m.,” Garcia said.

Another man we spoke to said he was trying to get to Reno when he got stuck at the Shell gas station in Nyack.

“I stopped here to take a little break and then slept in my car for about 20 minutes. When I woke up, my exit was blocked,” he said.

Dylan Khoo, an electric vehicle industry analyst, said the semi’s battery is at least 10 times the size of a Tesla Model 1 or 3.

“This battery emits a lot more toxic gases. It burns for a lot longer. It’s generally a lot harder to extinguish,” Khoo said.

He said the usual procedure is to let the battery burn out on its own, which can take quite a long time for a battery of this size. Khoo added that it cannot be simply extinguished with water.

“The water you use to extinguish fires accumulates toxic chemicals. It creates sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid,” Khoo said.

Following that incident and another incident in July on I-15, GOP lawmakers are calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to delay his Advanced Clean Fleets Mandate, part of a strategy to transition California’s medium- to heavy-duty trucks to zero-emission vehicles by 2045.

No jurors were reported following Monday’s crash. It was not clear when the eastbound lanes would reopen.