State of emergency declared in Los Angeles after fire engulfs interstate | Los Angeles
Los Angeles This article is more than 2 months oldState of emergency declared in Los Angeles after fire engulfs interstate
This article is more than 2 months oldResidents advised to use public transit as hazardous materials crews cleared burned matter and engineers examined damages
Los Angeles motorists should expect traffic snarls indefinitely as crews assess how much damage was caused by a raging fire that closed a major elevated interstate near downtown, officials said on Sunday.
Gavin Newsom, the state governor, declared a state of emergency on Saturday afternoon and directed the state department of transportation to request assistance from the federal government.
Hazardous materials teams were clearing burned matter from underneath Interstate 10 to make way for engineers to make sure the columns and deck of the highway can support the 300,000 vehicles that typically travel that route daily, Newsom said at a news conference.
“Remember, this is an investigation as to the cause of how this occurred, as well as a hazmat and structural engineering question,” he said. “Can you open a few lanes? Can you retrofit the columns? Is the bridge deck intact to allow for a few lanes to remain open again?”
Newsom said answering those questions would be a “24/7 operation”, but officials could not yet offer a timeline for when the highway might reopen.
Commuters were urged to work from home or take public transportation into downtown Los Angeles. The I-10 closure between Alameda Street and Santa Fe Avenue will have ripple effects on surface streets and other key freeways including State Route 60 and Interstate 5, the California highway patrol said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. Flames reported around 12.20am on Saturday raged through two storage lots in an industrial area underneath the highway, burning piles of wooden pallets, parked cars and support poles for high-tension power lines, Kristin M Crowley, the fire chief, said. No injuries were reported.
More than 160 firefighters from 26 companies responded to the blaze, which spread across 8 acres (3 hectares) – the equivalent of about six football fields – and burned for more than 3 hours. The highway’s columns are charred and chipped, while guardrails along the deck are twisted and blackened.
The governor said on Sunday that the state had been in litigation with the owner of the storage property where the fire started. The lease is expired, Newsom said, and the owner had been in arrears while subleasing the space. “This is a site we were aware of, this is a lessee we were aware of,” he said.
Toks Omishakin, the California secretary of transportation, said storage yards under highways are common statewide and across the country. He said the practice would be re-evaluated following the fire.
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At least 16 homeless people living underneath the highway were evacuated and brought to shelters, Karen Bass, the mayor, said. Officials said there was no immediate indication that the blaze began at the encampment.
Bass said the fire’s long-term impact was reminiscent of damage from the Northridge earthquake that flattened freeways in 1994.
“Unfortunately there is no reason to think that this is going to be over in a couple of days,” she said.
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