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California | Local
News

Myung J. Chun
/ Los Angeles Times

WRECKAGE: Firefighters sift
through the debris on the southbound I-5 truck lanes near the Newhall Pass
on Saturday after an accident late Friday involving as many as 15 trucks
and other vehicles.

At least 3 dead in I-5 crash; freeway closed

Myung J. Chun
/ Los Angeles Times

WRECKAGE: Firefighters sift
through the debris on the southbound I-5 truck lanes near the Newhall Pass
on Saturday after an accident late Friday involving as many as 15 trucks
and other vehicles.

Ten others are
injured in the fiery multi-vehicle pileup. Vital north-south route will be
closed at least until Tuesday.

By Ann Simmons,
Ari B. Bloomekatz and Jean-Paul Renaud, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

October 14, 2007

The fiery Interstate 5 truck crash that killed at
least three people south of Santa Clarita has severed the state's main
north-south transportation artery for an indefinite period, authorities
said Saturday.

Officials guessed that southbound lanes could reopen
as early as Tuesday but were unwilling to speculate about the northbound
lanes.

Photo Gallery

Pileup on I-5

Graphic

I-5 pile-up

click to enlarge

Related Stories

-

BOTTLENECK BLOG: Commuter guide for I-5
closure

The
chain-reaction crash and fire that closed the freeway, which carries
225,000 vehicles a day, occurred Friday night in a southbound tunnel used
primarily by truckers. The tunnel passes under the main freeway, which is
supported by the tunnel's concrete roof.

Fire burned throughout the
day Saturday, and explosions rocked the tunnel. Molten trucks that had
been reduced to hulks blocked it. Chunks of debris and cargo, including
produce, littered the road. A woman waited anxiously to learn if her
trucker husband had been trapped inside.

Heat was so intense that
firefighters and other officials could not explore the tunnel beyond its
mouths. They did not yet know the cause of the crash, how much damage was
done to the tunnel walls and roof, or how long it would take for traffic
to flow again on the eight-lane freeway overhead.

Coroner's
official Ed Winter said the three bodies that were recovered had not been
identified. "We are methodically going through the wreckage vehicle by
vehicle" looking for other bodies, he said.

Interstate 5 is of
vital commercial importance, but detours and disruptions along its
1,381-mile length from the Mexican border to Canada have become
increasingly common. Many have been attributed to steadily increasing
traffic and a steady deterioration of roadways.

Fire, police and
Caltrans officials spent the day trying to assess damage to the concrete
but were hampered by a continuing blaze in the tunnel's center, and heavy
smoke and high concentrations of carbon dioxide, particularly on the
tunnel's north, or uphill, end. They could not get very far past the
mouths of the tunnel.

Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John
Tripp said he expected it would be this evening before firefighters were
able to fully explore the 550-foot-long underpass just north of the I-5's
intersection with the 14 Freeway.

He said they had found no
indications that hazardous materials were involved in the blaze but that
the flames inside the two-lane underpass were so intense that vehicles had
burned to their cores and chunks of concrete had exploded off the tunnel's
sides, exposing rebar.

"It has impacted the structural stability
of the tunnel," Tripp said, but authorities were unsure to what
extent.

California Department of Transportation Director Will
Kempton, who was on the scene, said he did not believe structural damage
was severe but that engineers could not make a complete assessment until
firefighters finished clearing the wreckage.

"I don't think the
structure will have to be replaced," he said.

Caltrans spokesman
Mark DeSio said that, from vantage points near the mouths of the tunnel,
inspectors had not seen evidence that the tunnel was sagging, which would
have indicated severe damage.

Kempton guessed that at least the
southbound lanes of I-5 would be open Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, he said,
he has ordered temporary shoring for the tunnel to guard against a
collapse while engineers do their full assessment.

"Safety is our
main concern," he said. He urged the public to "please be
patient."

Rescue workers were just beginning the job of clearing
debris Saturday afternoon, using tow trucks and bulldozers near the
tunnel's mouths.

Caltrans officials urged motorists to avoid the
area if possible and noted that detours were in place.

CHP
officials said that as of early evening Saturday, northbound traffic was
being diverted onto California 14, exiting at San Fernando Road,
proceeding west and making a left at Sierra Highway and continuing south
until the Old Road, continuing on the Old Road to Calgrove Boulevard and
the I-5 onramp.

Southbound traffic was exiting I-5 at Calgrove
Boulevard and proceeding to the Old Road, which becomes San Fernando Road
past Sierra Highway. Traffic was to turn right onto Sepulveda Boulevard,
proceed to Roxford Street and almost immediately turn onto southbound
I-5.

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Discussion

How are you coping with the closure of
Interstate 5 in Santa Clarita?

1. Why are cars allowed in the same tunnel as
trucks (since there is an alternative)? Why is the speed limit 55
and not 25 through the tunnel? Why are hazardous material laws for
tunnels not enforced? Why doesn't this short tunnel have sufficient
lighting? Why is there no automated fine for speeding based on
reading the trucks' transponders? Why are there no drains to
eliminate the rain water? Why did the government choose to allow a
curve in a tunnel that runs at an angle?
Submitted by:
Bob
3:25 AM PDT, Oct 14, 2007

2. To keep from entering a tunnel
blind, close one eye for about thirty seconds before you get there.
That eye will be adjusted to the darkness when opened as you enter
the tunnel.
Submitted by: paul bowen
2:45 AM PDT, Oct 14, 2007

3. As a semi- truck driver for the
past 34 years one of the major problems is that cars and pick-up
trucks and motorcycles are not prohibited from using the truck
by-pass and they should be. The truck by-pass should be designated
for semi- trucks only. When you let cars and pick-ups drive on a
winding narrow two lane road and then add low visability and wet
road conditions due to rain, that can equal disaster as we all seen
last friday evening . State law makers need to pass road legislation
to address this critical and sometimes fatal problem.
Submitted
by: craig
2:26 AM PDT, Oct 14, 2007

Read all 35 comments

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I was coming down the hill
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— Reader Chris on the
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