2 confirmed dead in I-5 crash
Two people died and 10 were injured in a fiery multi-vehicle crash in an Interstate 5 tunnel south of Santa Clarita late Friday, closing the freeway in both directions until at least Sunday as authorities struggle to determine whether the main roadway suffered structural damage.
Authorities were still trying to put out the tunnel fire this afternoon and estimating that the operation could take days.
A Caltrans spokesman said at midafternoon that traffic heading south on the I-5 from Bakersfield was being diverted to Magic Mountain Parkway in Santa Clarita, then sent south on San Fernando Road to the 14 Freeway and south on the 14 back to the I-5.
Eight of the 10 injuries were reported as minor, with the others said to be of moderate severity. The dead were not immediately identified.
As of midafternoon, authorities were unsure how long the main north-south route connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco would be closed. But Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Jason Hurd said it could be days.
Hurd forecast that “it will at least be into tomorrow [Sunday] before we can gain entry” to the center of the tunnel, where he estimated that temperatures had reached as high as 1,000 to 2,000 degrees for many hours and may have damaged the tunnel’s concrete walls.
He said that “it could take days to put the fire out — we don’t even know what type of vehicles are inside, the damage is so extreme.”
The chain-reaction crash occurred in the short tunnel under all eight lanes of the freeway. The tunnel is designated for trucks but is often used by cars as well.
Firefighters said the entire tunnel, which extends at least 200 feet, was engulfed in flames for hours after at least one trucks, which was carrying fuel, caught fire. Witnesses reported a series of explosions. As many as 15 trucks may have been involved, as well as at least one passenger car that was flattened near the tunnel’s entrance.
Authorities took reporters to the mouth of the tunnel at 2 p.m. today, where they saw an entrance jammed with parts of charred big rigs and tow trucks and tractors beginning to clear wreckage.
Victoria Cibrian was conducting a vigil nearby, waiting for word about her missing husband, Ricardo, a truck driver she fears may have been trapped inside. Cibrian, of Los Angeles, said a colleague of his called her this morning to tell her that her husband was in the crash. “I couldn’t wait at home anymore so I came here,” she said.
Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said the fire was so intense that chunks of concrete exploded off the sides of the tunnel.
“It has impacted the structural stability of the tunnel,” he said, but authorities were unsure to what extent.
By late morning, Tripp said, firefighters who had fought the blaze with water and foam from both ends of the tunnel had still not been able to explore it.
Although Tripp said there were no indications that any of the trucks was carrying hazardous materials, officials were unwilling to explore until the fire was extinguished and they were certain there was no danger.
California Highway Patrol spokesman John Lutz said Caltrans inspectors were examining the tunnel’s mouth.
Mark DeSio, spokesman for the California Department of Transportation, said at noon that highway inspectors had seen evidence that the tunnel needed “some shoring” up. But they did not notice any sagging, which would have indicated more severe damage. They need to check further, he said.
source: chicago tribune
