Dennis RomeroThe good news, if there is any, is that a tanker fire that essentially turned the 5 freeway near Atwater Village into a parking lot happened on a Saturday morning, when most of us weren't there.
Of course, the rest is all bad, including the fact that the northbound 5 and much of the southbound freeway would remain closed in the area this morning as crews repaired the mess:
Caltrans says the following closures could remain in effect until Tuesday. Tuesday!
Northbound I-5 closed at SR-2
Northbound SR-2 at Glendale Boulevard
Northbound I-5 to Southbound SR-2 connector
Southbound SR-2 to Southbound I-5 connector
Northbound SR-2 to Northbound I-5
Southbound I-5, the #3 and #4 lanes are closed from Los Feliz to Stadium Way
The agency says “a temporary system to support the columns which hold the lanes of northbound and southbound I-5” has to be constructed because of the damage caused by the blaze.
The fuel tanker truck-and-trailer fire in a transition tunnel from the northbound Glendale (2) Freeway to the northbound 5 was reported at 10:31 a.m., according to the L.A. Fire Department.
Credit: Courtesy Grant Kirkwood
Gas that didn't erupt in flames and char the tunnel ended up in the nearby L.A. river and, according to the LAFD, “ignited along a half-mile section of the Los Angeles River.”
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