10 FWY BIG RIG
FIRE LEAVES ALL WB LANES CLOSED THROUGH EAST L.A.; TRAFFIC JAMMED. THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT OF THE FRONT PORTION
OF THE BIG RIG CAUGHT FIRE…BECAME FULLY ENGULFED IN FLAMES
The 10 Freeway was partially shut down through East Los
Angeles after a big rig erupted in flames late Tuesday morning, snarling
traffic through the area.
Fire crews knocked down a big rig fire that erupted on
the 10 Freeway near the 710 Freeway on Jan. 13, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)
The fire was reported in City Terrace shortly after 11
a.m. near the 710 Freeway connector, the California Highway Patrol’s incident
log stated. The area is near the Cal State Los Angeles campus.
A SigAlert was issued and initially all westbound lanes
and two eastbound lanes of the 10 were closed just north of Eastern Avenue,
according to the log.
All eastbound lanes were reopened as of 12:35 p.m., but
the entire westbound freeway remained closed, Caltrans tweeted.
The lanes would be closed for an “unknown duration,” the
CHP log stated.
The 10 and 710 freeway connectors were also shut down,
according to Caltrans.
Traffic on both sides of the freeway appeared to be
backed up for miles, aerial video from Sky5 showed. Traffic was completely
stopped on the westbound lanes, while vehicles were slowly moving their way
through the two open lanes on the eastern side of the road.
By 12:15 p.m., lanes were backed up on the westbound
freeway to Del Mar Avenue, while the eastbound back up stretched to the 5
Freeway, according to a tweet from CHP’s Southern Division.
A big rig caught fire on the 10 Freeway in City Terrace
on Jan. 13, 2015. (Credit: Cynthia Gonzalez)
All traffic was being diverted to the 710.
Motorists were asked to avoid the area and take
alternate routes to get to their destinations.
To bypass the area, CHP advised drivers heading west
from the area to take to take the 60 Freeway, Valley Boulevard to Main
street toward the 5 Freeway or into downtown L.A., or Cesar Chavez Avenue.
It was not immediately known what prompted the big rig
to catch fire, but CHP Officer Doris Peniche said the driver pulled over to the
right shoulder after noticing the flames coming from the engine compartment.
“Upon exiting his rig, the engine compartment of the
front portion of the big rig caught fire…became fully engulfed in flames,” she
said.
No other vehicles were involved.
The big rig was carrying about 14,000 pounds of
appliances at the time it caught fire.
Firefighters from the Los Angeles County Fire Department
arrived on scene and extinguished the blaze, which had fully engulfed the cab.
Video over the scene taken while crews mopped up the
fire showed the charred, mangled wreckage of the semi-truck’s cab.
The big rig’s driver managed to exit the vehicle
safely, CHP Officer Jennifer Cassiday said.
The semi was parked underneath a bridge as it became fully
engulfed in flames, and inspectors were out on the scene checking to see if the
overpass was damaged, according to the log.
Fire crews were at the scene of a big rig fire on the 10
Freeway in East L.A. on Jan. 13, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)
“We’re looking at the vent holes underneath the freeway
overpass that are still having little puffs of smoke that come out
periodically,” County Fire Department Capt. Keith Mora said. “The freeway does
have a wooden casing on the side when they built it, so we’re concerned the
fire may have gotten inside that casing and it’s still smoldering within, which
could compromise the integrity of the freeway.”
Officials later confirmed that the fire had made its way
into the casing of the bridge. Specially trained crews were working to get into
the confined space to put out any remaining flames.