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In article <uitgmn$mok7$[email protected]>
shitbag <[email protected]> wrote:

Los Angeles commuters braced for traffic chaos Monday, after a
massive weekend fire forced the indefinite closure of Interstate 10,
one of the city’s major traffic arteries.

Mayor Karen Bass described the situation as a “crisis” for a city
already notorious for its traffic woes. She urged travelers to
prepare for delays and plan alternative routes while the interstate
remains shut down in both directions near Alameda Street in the
city’s downtown area.

Ahead of the Monday morning commute, a citywide alert was sent to
residents’ cell phones warning the freeway “will be closed
indefinitely” and to “expect significant traffic.”

More than 300,000 vehicles travel through the freeway corridor every
day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

“It’s of significant consequence to the economy, to the health and
safety of Angelenos,” Newsom said. “The impact to our schools, to vulnerable communities – all of that we take very seriously, and
we’re sober and mindful of the urgency to get this open.”

The city is scrambling to assess the safety of the roadway and
repair the damage caused by a raging fire at a storage yard early
Saturday that spread under the freeway to ignite a second storage
facility, ultimately engulfing about 80,000 square feet and
destroying several vehicles, according to the Los Angeles Fire
Department.

There is no estimated timeline for reopening the stretch of the
interstate, but Bass warned Sunday the issue “is not going to be
resolved in one or two days.”

The state’s transportation department urged commuters to work from
home or take public transportation, if possible.

Nearby school bus routes are also likely to change, though public
schools will remain open, the LA Unified School District announced.

The Port of Los Angeles warned travelers to prepare for heavy
traffic Monday morning, flagging updates and alternate routes.

Newsom has declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles County due
to the closure and said the state would assess the damage and begin
making repairs as soon as the site could be accessed.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement that he
was in touch with California officials, adding that the federal
highways administrator is expected in Los Angeles on Monday.

The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of the blaze. That investigation is expected to conclude Monday morning, Newsom said at
a Sunday news conference.

Once a hazardous materials investigation is complete, structural
engineers will be able to go in to determine the extent of the
damage, city and state officials said.

Hazmat teams will work around the clock to clean up the damage on
Interstate 10, according to Newsom, who said the scale of the fire’s
damage is “substantially greater” than the collapse of a portion of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia in June.

“You name it, we saw it stored at this site,” said Newsom, who
toured the location on Sunday. Wooden pallets, cars filled with gas
and boxes of oranges have all been found under the Los Angeles
bridge, officials said.

Firefighters responded to reports of a fire around 12:30 a.m.
Saturday at a 200-by-200-foot storage yard “with pallets, trailers
and vehicles well involved in fire” and buildings that were exposed, according to the fire department.

“Wind pushed the heat and the flames under the freeway, and across
the street ignited a secondary storage yard,” Fire Chief Kristin
Crowley said Sunday.

The bulk of the fire had been extinguished within three hours and
firefighters were able to save three nearby commercial buildings,
Crowley said. More than 160 firefighters responded to the incident,
she added.

No injuries have been reported due to the blaze, the fire chief
said.

When asked by reporters why the flammable material was allowed to be
stored under the bridge, the governor said, “That’s all being
assessed.”

Newsom said the tenant of the site is in violation of their lease.
“We’re in litigation, their lease has expired and we have been
aggressive in addressing concerns as it relates to the lease
itself,” he said.

Officials believe the tenant “subleased the space … with multiple subleases, that’s part of the litigation posture,” Newsom said.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/us/i-10-freeway-la-fire-closure- monday/index.html

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