California Tanker Fire Forces Freeway Demolition

Dec. 15, 2011
MONTEBELLO, Calif. -- A 10-mile stretch of Southern California freeway, closed when a gasoline tanker fire melted part of an overpass and snarled rush-hour commuter traffic in and out of Los Angeles, is scheduled to reopen Friday after the overpass is at least partly demolished. Engineers examined the blackened, pitted Paramount Boulevard span over State Highway 60 in the suburb of Montebello on Thursday and determined that at least the eastern lanes would have to be torn down. Heavy tractors moved in to begin the work immediately.

MONTEBELLO, Calif. --

A 10-mile stretch of Southern California freeway, closed when a gasoline tanker fire melted part of an overpass and snarled rush-hour commuter traffic in and out of Los Angeles, is scheduled to reopen Friday after the overpass is at least partly demolished.

Engineers examined the blackened, pitted Paramount Boulevard span over State Highway 60 in the suburb of Montebello on Thursday and determined that at least the eastern lanes would have to be torn down. Heavy tractors moved in to begin the work immediately.

"There's too much structural damage," California Highway Patrol Officer Luis Mendoza said. "They don't think it can support weight on top."

Inspectors, meanwhile, were checking the western side of the overpass to determine if it must also be razed.

In either case, the huge stretch of highway that serves as a key connection to downtown Los Angeles will reopen Friday afternoon in time for that day's evening rush hour, said California Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kelly Markham.

"You will look up overhead and where you used to see bridge you will sky," she said.

The freeway's closure shortly after noon Wednesday delayed rush-hour commuters for hours that night and again Thursday morning.

Among them was Nakisa Kohanchi, an Iranian immigrant who missed her naturalization ceremony Thursday morning because of the traffic tie-up.

Kohanchi left her home in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles at 7:15 a.m. and headed to the ceremony in Montebello, 20 miles away.

It took her nearly two hours to get there, as she was routed off State Highway 60, got lost and drove in circles.

"I had to exit the freeway and I didn't know how I could get there from the streets," said Kohanchi, who planned to become a U.S. citizen at a second ceremony scheduled later in the day.

Meanwhile, it was not immediately clear when repairs or reconstruction of the overpass might begin, but it could take weeks to months, Markham said.

The work, which would entail closing the freeway again, at least overnight, would be done as quickly as possible, she said.

The stretch of freeway was shut down after the double-tanker carrying some 9,000 gallons of gasoline caught fire under the overpass. The intense heat partially melted the truck, cratered the roadway and left spilled fuel everywhere.

A Montebello firefighter suffered a broken leg fighting the blaze and thousands of motorists were stuck in place for hours. The truck's driver and a passenger escaped unharmed.

The cause of the crash, including the possibility that the tanker's brakes overheated, remained under investigation.

State Highway 60 is a major artery linking downtown Los Angeles with the San Gabriel Valley and other bedroom communities east of the city. It also is a main route for trucks delivering goods from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to inland warehouses.

On Thursday morning, the usually bumper-to-bumper morning commute in the Los Angeles area was even more of a misery as tens of thousands of drivers who normally used State Route 60 took detours.

Delays of an hour or more were reported, Mendoza said.

"It's definitely impacting just about every freeway that comes into Los Angeles County. It's causing overflow onto the 210, the 10 and the 91," CHP Officer Mike Harris said.

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Associated Press Writer Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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