Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will be joined by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Vice President Kamala Harris and other local, state and federal officials Sunday to provide an update on the ongoing work to repair the fire-damaged stretch of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, the search for a possible arson suspect and related matters, officials announced.
The 7 a.m. news conference will be livestreamed at the @CAgovernor Twitter page and the California governor’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
Newsom previously announced that five lanes of the freeway in both directions are set to reopen Tuesday.
“That is a significant improvement on the basis of our original timeline, three to five weeks,” Newsom said during an early evening news conference Thursday at the construction site. “… By Tuesday of next week, trucks, passenger vehicles in both directions will be moving again. And that is simply due to the extraordinary work again of the folks behind me.
“… Things continue to move favorably in our direction. That is not guaranteed. We still have chemical sampling that comes in on a daily basis, but the bridge structure itself seems to be in better shape than we anticipated.”
State officials said Wednesday that contractors had removed all of the debris and hazardous materials from beneath the damaged freeway stretch. Caltrans officials said about 264,000 cubic feet of material was removed, enough to fill four Olympic-size swimming pools. More than two dozen burned vehicles were also removed from the area.
That work was completed two days ahead of schedule.
There are more than 250 people working at the jobsite on 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, officials said.
The fixthe10.ca.gov website has been established to provide the latest information on the repair process with six recently installed cameras providing live coverage.
On Saturday, Cal Fire released photos and a description of a person of interest in connection with the fire they believe was intentionally set, igniting within the fenceline of a storage yard on Nov. 11.
The suspect was described as a 6-foot tall man weighing 170 to 190 pounds with black hair, according to the Cal Fire statement. He appears to be between 30 and 35 years old, and his race is unknown. He possibly has a burn on his left leg. The man was photographed wearing a black hoodie, blue shorts, gray shoes, green scarf and a knee brace on his right knee. He was also carrying a dark-colored backpack.
Investigators urged anyone with information about the initial fire or the suspect to call their tip hotline at 800-468-4408.
As has occurred since Friday, additional traffic officers will be in place Sunday to help motorists navigate major Los Angeles-area events and alleviate congestion at the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets game at the Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles Rams at So-Fi Stadium and the last day of the L.A. Auto Show at the L.A. Convention Center.
Bass had earlier directed the Los Angeles City Department of Transportation to make Commuter Express and DASH buses free to encourage commuters to use public transportation.
The closed portion of Interstate 10 typically carries about 300,000 vehicles per day.
Beyond finding the suspect and re-routing traffic, city and state officials have also been concerned about the negative impact of the fire, freeway closure and rerouted traffic is having on downtown businesses.
Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon is expected to announce on Monday the opening of a dedicated Business Resource Center and Bass has promised that assistance would be available to downtown businesses.
“During this difficult time and beyond, my message is the same — Los Angeles stands with businesses,” the mayor said.
The assistance will include a micro-enterprise grant program, administrated by the city’s Economic Workforce and Development Department. The grant deadline is Dec. 10.
Businesses experiencing an interruption/disruption in their revenues or physical damages can also email mayor.business@lacity.org.
Claims for property damage at the freeway site can be emailed to the Caltrans District 7 Claims/Legal Office at d7.legal.claims.unit@dot.ca.gov.
Information about these and other available resources can be found at emergency.lacity.gov.
Bass has thanked commuters who heeded warnings to avoid driving through the freeway closure area between Alameda Street and the East L.A. Interchange, noting that people opted to either stay home, find alternate routes or rely on mass transit to reach their destinations.
“The last few days have been difficult, but everybody has cooperated and I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you,” Bass said last week.
On Thursday, Bass, who also chairs the Metro Board of Directors, introduced a proposal with a series of steps she wants the transit agency to take to encourage the use of public transportation as long as the freeway is closed.
Among the directives included in the motion was a lifting of the ride cap for Metro low-income fare LIFE program, coordination with local jurisdictions to speed up trains and buses in the closure area and increase the number of “Transit Ambassadors” on the system to assist riders, particularly those who may be riding for the first time.
The motion also called for free use of the Metro Bike-Share system during the closure and reduced daily parking rates of 10 cents at Metro Park and Ride lots.
“Metro has reported that ridership on the E (Expo) Line is up 10%, which runs parallel to the freeway,” Bass said in a statement. “This shows that our message to take Metro during the closure is resonating, but we have an opportunity to do more to address the impacts for communities and commuters during the closure and beyond, and that is what we will continue to urgently work toward.”
The initial fire was reported at 12:22 a.m. Nov. 11 in the 1700 block of East 14th Street, two blocks west of Alameda Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Margaret Stewart.
Firefighters from 26 companies worked feverishly to contain and extinguish the major emergency fire, which started in one downtown pallet yard, spread to another and consumed a fire engine that became stuck in its path, Stewart said.
The first pallet yard was 40,000 square feet in size and fully involved with flames that engulfed multiple trailers when firefighters arrived. The flames spread to the second pallet yard of similar size between Lawrence and Elwood streets.
Stewart said that by 2:33 a.m., pallets in both yards were mostly consumed by the flames and firefighters were using bulldozers to move debris and put out hot spots.
Firefighters successfully prevented the fire from spreading to three nearby commercial buildings, Stewart said.
The company that leases the property where the fire occurred, Calabasas-based Apex Development, is being sued by the state for failure to pay rent and violating the terms of its lease, in part by subleasing the property to other businesses and by allowing flammable materials to be stored on the land.
That lawsuit was filed long before the fire erupted.
Another court hearing in the case is expected early next year.
Newsom said Caltrans is reviewing all similar leases to determine whether other companies might be violating lease terms. Bass said she has asked all city general managers to report if their agencies have any active leases of property beneath the freeway.