The area under an elevated Los Angeles freeway that burned last weekend was a kind of open-air warehouse with businesses storing everything from wood pallets to cardboard boxes to hand sanitizer on lots leased by the state through a little-known program that now is under scrutiny.
The blaze Saturday burned about 100 support columns, forcing the closure of a vital mile-long stretch of Interstate 10 near downtown that is used by hundreds of thousands of people daily. It could take crews working around the clock between three and five weeks to repair the freeway, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
Newsom said the state would reassess the practice of leasing land under roads to bring in money for mass transportation projects.
Details of that program remain opaque. Newsom’s office directed questions about whether the state has any regular inspection protocols to state transportation officials. The California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, did not respond to questions about inspections or provide information about how many properties the state leases.
State Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, who represents part of downtown Los Angeles, said officials should disclose how many sites are leased under the program, the terms of contracts, how much money the program generates and how the state ensures companies comply with the contract requirements.
“Some of those actions could have prevented what we now see happened underneath the 10,” Santiago said.
Apex Development Inc. has leased the land under Interstate 10 since 2008. One condition of Apex’s contract stipulated it not allow flammable or hazardous materials to be stored there.
The fire that spread quickly over 8 acres (3 hectares) was fed by pallets, cars, construction materials and other items being stored under the freeway in an industrial neighborhood. No injuries were reported but at least 16 homeless people living in an encampment there were taken to shelters.
No arrests have been made…
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