Big rigs burn in California freeway tunnel

[Saguaro]

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The major north-south freeway through north Los Angeles County was shut down Saturday after a fiery pileup in a truck-only tunnel injured at least 10 people and left at least one person missing.

The fire continued to burn Saturday morning, with black smoke boiling out of both sides of the Interstate 5 tunnel and orange flames clearly visible.

"Initially, we had explosions, and we're continuing to have explosions inside the tunnel," said Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Jason Hurd.

At least 15 big rigs were involved in the accident that began late Friday when two trucks collided inside the tunnel, Hurd said. Wreckage was spread out over half a mile, The Associated Press reported.

The blaze shut down not only the truck tunnel but also the north- and southbound auto lanes that run above it.

Hurd said flames inside the tunnel had been intense, to the point that the tunnel and the freeway bridge above it may be damaged.

Engineers from the California Department of Transportation were at the mouth of the tunnel checking, as well as they could, the integrity of the walls. Chunks of the concrete wall easily gave way when struck with a hammer.

Firefighters could not enter the tunnel because of the intensity of the flames and the lack of information on the trucks' contents, Hurd said.

He could not estimate when the roadway would reopen.


Ten people got out of the tunnel on foot, AP reported. Hurd said 10 people were taken to hospitals with slight to moderate injuries, and there was a report of one person missing.

"We're going to have to do a very methodical search," Deputy Chief John Tripp told KABC-TV, according to AP. "There could be unfortunately more people that were not able to escape."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/13/tunnel.fire/index.html

[cassandra]

Oh my goodness. I just called my Mother. My brother is a trucker and goes to San Bernadino. Hopefully he was not that far west or over there at the time.

[Saguaro]

Oh no,I hope he is ok :hug

[cassandra]

He is in Ohio, sleeping. Glad that I woke him up! LOL

[Saguaro]

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A 15-truck pile-up on a rain-slicked Southern California freeway left 10 people injured and at least one missing, sent flames shooting out of a tunnel and blocked a key link between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Fire Inspector Jason Hurd said the accident — the wreckage stretching a half mile — began when two trucks collided late Friday and started a chain reaction in Interstate 5's southbound truck-only tunnels.

At one point flames shot out of the tunnel and 100 feet into the night sky, said Los Angeles County firefighter Scott Clark, one of some 300 firefighters battling the blaze at its height.

"It looked like a bomb went off," said Clark, who battled the flames throughout the night.

The charred skeletons of at least a half-dozen big rigs peeked out of the tunnel's south end. At least one truck was carrying produce, and a smoldering load of cabbages lay scattered across the pavement.

By mid-morning most of the flames appeared to have been extinguished, although thick columns of smoke were still curling out of the tunnel and into the surrounding canyons. Firefighters began pouring flame-retardant foam into one end of the tunnel to douse any hot spots.

Twenty people evacuated the fiery tunnel on foot, including the 10 injured, Hurd said, and five trucks were stuck inside. One truck driver was unaccounted for, and authorities were worried that more may be missing.

Officials had not confirmed any fatalities, said Rick Quintero, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

Although the tunnel is designed to carry truck traffic through a mountain pass area, Hurd said passenger cars may also use it, raising concerns that some may be trapped inside.

"We're going to have to do a very methodical search," Deputy Chief John Tripp told KABC-TV. "There could be unfortunately more people that were not able to escape."

Authorities said eight had minor injuries and two had moderate injuries, ranging from moderate burns to neck and back injuries. All 10 injured were taken to local hospitals.

The intense heat caused concrete to crack and melt, sending chucks falling onto the road below throughout the night. Firefighters worried that the damage could cause parts of the tunnel to collapse.

"The tunnel may be structurally compromised, so we're fighting the fire from outside right now," Tripp said.

State transportation department engineers were inspecting the tunnel and the freeway above to determine whether firefighters and rescue workers could enter to douse the remaining flames and look for anyone who might have been trapped.

The interstate, a key route connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, as well as a major commuter link connecting Los Angeles to its northern suburbs, was expected to remain closed throughout the day Saturday and perhaps longer.

"It could be another day, it could be days, it could be weeks," Hurd said.

The freeway is roughly 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071013/ap_on_re_us/truck_pileup;_ylt=AqTvqEgtNFuOrwCkz9xYnbus0NUE

[Saguaro]

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - Firefighters and highway workers Sunday searched for bodies and worked to remove charred debris from a freeway tunnel north of Los Angeles after a fiery pileup that killed three people and could keep the major interstate highway shut down for days.

The crash late Friday involved five to six big rigs and several passenger cars and sent people fleeing for their lives from the flaming tunnel. At least five of the trucks burst into flames, and the fire spread to the other vehicles. Ten people were injured.

“It looked like a bomb went off,” said Los Angeles County firefighter Scott Clark, one of about 300 firefighters who battled the blaze through the night.

Firefighters feared they could find more bodies as they hauled out debris, and hoped to finish the search by Sunday morning, said Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp.

Firefighters began hauling debris out of the tunnel Saturday. Officials hope to reopen the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 by Tuesday morning, but they have been hampered by small lingering fires and concern about how many repairs will have to be made for the tunnel to be safe for the public.

“Our goal is to get the roadway open as quickly as possible,” said Will Kempton, director of the California Department of Transportation.

The bodies of two crash victims were found in the tunnel early Saturday and a third was found later in the day. The dead were two adult males and one child, said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Jason Hurd. Hurd did not know the exact ages of any of the three.

County coroner’s investigator Kelly Yagerlener said it could be several days before the names of the dead were released.

Ten other people suffered minor to moderate injuries.

'They just started hitting me'
The pileup in the southbound truck tunnel of Interstate 5 began about 11 p.m. Friday when two big rigs collided on the rain-slickened highway about 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. As crashes continued throughout the 550-foot-long tunnel, five tractor-trailers burst into flames, and the fire quickly spread.

“There was an accident in front of me. I come to a stop and then they just start hitting me, one right after another,” trucker Tony Brazil told reporters at the crash site.

“A couple drivers come over the top of the truck and (said), ’Get out of here, let’s get out of here,’ so I got my wallet and my phone and I was able to squeeze between that truck there and the wall,” Brazil said.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.

The pileup snarled traffic for miles in all directions as motorists had to navigate neighborhood streets and mountain roads to get around the wreck. It took an hour to travel 100 yards on one street just down the hill from the crash.

Interstate 5 is a key route connecting Southern and Northern California, as well as a major commuter link between Los Angeles and its northern suburbs. The affected stretch of freeway carries about 225,000 vehicles a day, and there are likely to be huge traffic jams in the area if it is still closed when people return to work Monday.

The tunnel, built in the 1970s, and its mix of curves and darkness has long been regarded by truckers as one of the most dangerous areas of the freeway.

“There’s kind of a blind spot, so if you boogie around the bend too fast and there’s somebody stopped in the tunnel, it’ll be ’boom-boom-boom’, Arthur Johnson, 45, of Buckeye Ariz. told the Los Angeles Times.

Truck driver Fausto Angelino said he’s been driving that stretch of road for 23 years.

“I hold my breath every time,” he said.

At the crash site Saturday, the charred skeletons of a few big rigs peeked out of the tunnel’s south end. At least one was carrying produce, and a smoldering load of cabbage lay on the pavement. A pile of scorched truck debris protruded from a tunnel wall.

As the fire spread Friday night, flames shot out of both ends of the tunnel, rising as high as 100 feet into the air, firefighters at the scene said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21276017/