All Lanes Reopened After Tanker Fire

All lanes of the of the Golden State (5) Freeway near Dodger Stadium are open this morning, nearly three days after a fire sparked by the crash of a tanker closed down most of the freeway.

The northbound lanes were reopened by 11 p.m. Monday and the southbound lanes, around 3:10 a.m. today, according to Patrick Chandler of Caltrans.

The fire was reported at 10:31 a.m. Saturday when a tanker truck overturned in a small tunnel connecting the northbound Glendale (2) Freeway to the Golden State Freeway, spilling about 8,500 gallons of gasoline, damaging the roadway and sending up columns of black smoke visible for miles, authorities said.

Over the weekend, crews cleared debris from the tunnel, shored up compromised stretches of roadbed and began work removing the gasoline that flowed into storm drains and the Los Angeles River.

Contractors were called in to install emergency shoring in two tunnels under the freeway. Those braces will block two transition ramps from the Glendale Freeway to the Golden State Freeway "for some weeks to come,'' Chandler said.

"Caltrans structural, design, maintenance and construction engineers have instructed the contractor to construct a temporary system to support the structures which hold the lanes of northbound and southbound 5,'' Chandler said.

The heat from Saturday's tanker fire caused "extensive damage to the pavement, walls, support columns, drainage, and lighting within the tunnel,'' requiring it to remain closed indefinitely, Chandler said.

"Caltrans will take core samples of the concrete in the tunnel to determine the extent of damage and determine a permanent repair solution,'' he said.

- City News Service