Enormous fire under LA freeway burns

[BigmanPigman]

?si=gR5jR3wrFfn199wr

[hunter]

1. That overpass is trashed.

There are pictures of the disintegrated concrete here:

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/massive-downtown-la-fire-shuts-down-10-freeway-interchange-indefinitely/

I'm glad I'm not a commuter there. Los Angeles traffic is a nightmare in normal conditions, this will only make it worse.

When my wife and I met in the mid 'eighties we were commuters. I could get to and from work faster on my bicycle than I could driving on the freeway. Unfortunately riding a bike was literally putting my life in danger.

[BigmanPigman]

2. There was a huge freeway fire in Phila on I-95 but

Gov Shapiro reopened the freeway ahead of schedule so maybe Newsom will be able to do the same in LA. I know they are different situations but at least Dem governors are pretty reliable.

https://billypenn.com/2023/06/11/highway-collapse-philadelphia-i95-truck-fire/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/governor-says-interstate-95-near-202532282.html

[IbogaProject]

7. The Biden administration helped the I-95 project

The Federal Dot had that special material they used to support the road by walling an area, filling it with a lightweight set of microballs like sand.

[BigmanPigman]

9. It that do-able to this freeway?

I'm not an engineer so I have no clue.

[Captain Zero]

3. Homeless under it ?

Hmmm.

[hunter]

4. It's very likely someone's cardboard shack or decrepit motor home caught fire.

Just another example of how housing the homeless can save money in the long run.

People with homes don't burn down freeway overpasses trying to cook or keep warm, and are less likely to be frequent flyers to expensive hospital emergency rooms or jails.

[Demobrat]

5. It started in a storage facility

Nothing to do with homeless.

[C Moon]

6. It wouldn't surprise me if was a homeless-related fire: there were several nearby

who lost the homes and vehicles where they lived; plus, it's beginning to get cold in the evenings.

[IbogaProject]

8. Might just be a sloppy business

Either cause is from greed.

[C Moon]

18. Yes. Actually, that does sound like what it was.

Officials said there were a lot of pallets, cars, etc dumped there.
Too bad there aren't resources to keep check on things like that sitting under what may be the most used freeway in the nation.

[TeamProg]

10. It's a little early to say. I'm also thinking it was started accidentally by a homeless person. nt

[relayerbob]

11. A fire like that burned in Atlanta under a freeway

Caused major structural damage and shut it down for a while to get repaired. Major chaos ensued. While not as large as I-10, it was a major artery into the city. I'll be amazed if the damage here isn't at least as bad, as this looks to have been a much larger fire.

[SunSeeker]

12. Monday morning traffic into Downtown LA on the 10 will be a nightmare.

The damage looks bad. It looks like it will take a lot more than 24 hours to fix that.

[quaint]

13. Pallet yard underneath the freeway NOT caused by unhoused, they're victims.

Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday night, following a massive fire that shut down part of the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.

The blaze was first reported early Saturday around 12:30 a.m. at a pallet yard underneath the freeway near East 14th and Alameda streets.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/state-of-emergency-declared-after-fire-shuts-down-10-freeway/

[SunSeeker]

14. Glad Newsom declared an emergency, it certainly is.

This is devastating to anyone living or traveling to downtown LA or anywhere near it. Hopefully they can rebuild it as fast as they did the 10 after the 1994 earthquake, but even that took almost 3 months.

[BigmanPigman]

15. I read the comments to the You Tube

And half of the posts "blame CA," "our Fed tax dollars are paying for this CA state disaster", "another needless state of emergency from the terrible Governor", etc.

I couldn't believe it but then some one made a comment. "You do realize 50 percent of these comments are bots, don't you?" and I calmed down.

[Cheezoholic]

16. Palet yards are huge campfires waiting to happen

I've seen one go up faster than anyone could dial 911. They let one exist under a major thoroughfare?

[quaint]

17. Apparently, strangely.

All you need is a permit.
This old:
Update Structure Fire; INC#0031; 01:46AM; 1745 E 14th St; https://bit.ly/3udjCbS; Downtown; 26 fire companies, including one helicopter, assigned to this incident. The fire is fully involving two separate pallet yards, each approximately 200' x 200' in size. The first pallet yard is under the 10 Freeway which is now closed in both directions. There are multiple commercial buildings exposed but there does not yet appear to be any extension inside. The fire load in the first pallet yard is starting to dwindle and firefighters are holding the 2nd pallet yard fire in check while also defending the exposed buildings. LADWP is assisting with boosting the water pressure in the area to compensate for the high volume needed. CalTrans is enroute to assess any possible damage to the 10 Freeway. Drivers are advised to seek alternate routes and follow CHP https://cad.chp.ca.gov/Traffic.aspx for traffic updates. This will be an extended duration operation lasting through the morning. LAFD PIO Firefighter David Ortiz is enroute for media availability.; FS 17; Batt 1; Central Bureau; Council District 14; AR1 BC1 BC11 BC13 BC5 CM20 CM22 E10 E11 E12 E14 E17 E2 E201 E202 E203 E209 E21 E210 E211 E215 E220 E221 E233 E235 E25 E260 E29 E3 E35 E4 E9 EA1 EM1 HE1 HR3 PI4 RA14 RA17 RA3 RS3 SQ21 T1 T10 T11 T15 T2 T20 T21 T3 T33 T35 T60 T9 UR3 UR88; CH9; 12 13; Margaret Stewart

https://www.lafd.org/alert/update-structure-fire-11112023-inc0031-0

[C Moon]

19. From what I read, a fire engine was destroyed.

I agree, why the hell aren't the freeway areas more protected—especially one as busy as the 10 freeway in downtown L.A.?

But listen to me....hindsight is 20/20. Hopefully something can be done to prevent more of this.