91视频

By Julie Watson and Amy Taxin

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES 鈥� The area under an elevated Los Angeles freeway that聽,聽damaging a section of a key thoroughfare in the car-dependent city, had stacks of flammable materials on lots leased by the state through a little-known program that now is under scrutiny.

The Nov. 11 blaze shut a mile-long stretch of Interstate 10 near downtown for over a week, snarling traffic as repair crews worked around the clock. Safety inspections showed the span was safe for motor vehicles by Nov. 19 鈥� weeks sooner than originally estimated. The freeway reopened before the next day鈥檚 morning rush hour.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just speed that we were after; we wanted to make sure this thing was safe,鈥� Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference.

Each day, an estimated 300,000 drivers use the freeway, which runs east-west across the heart of the metropolis and connects with other major highways.

The , which are expected to be covered by federal funds, could cost $3 million, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla estimated.

While state investigators have not said how the fire was set, the blaze was fed by pallets, cars, construction materials, hand sanitizer and other items being stored under the freeway under a state program. The state will reassess the practice of leasing land under roads to bring in money for mass transportation projects, Newsom said.

Investigators repeatedly identified fire and safety hazards at a leased storage space under the freeway before the fire, documents show. Apex Development has leased the land under I-10 since 2008. Although one condition of the contract stipulated that it not allow the storage of flammable or hazardous materials there, state inspectors have visited the site six times since early 2020 and flagged problematic conditions for years.

鈥淭his is a filthy unmaintained lease,鈥� inspector Daryl Myatt wrote in a 2022 report after a surprise inspection discovered solvents, oils, fuels and other items barred by the agreement. 鈥淭his area has been utilized since the mid-1970s and looks like it.鈥�

Prior to the fire, state officials filed a lawsuit against Apex saying the company owes $78,000 in unpaid rent. A hearing is scheduled next year.

The lawsuit also says Apex was subleasing to six other companies. That can be legal if the company received permission from state and federal regulators, but Apex did not, Newsom said.

Mainak D鈥橝ttaray, an attorney for Apex Development, issued a statement declaring that the company is not to blame for the fire and in fact had upgraded the property. The company has not been able to access the premises since October, he added.

鈥淎pex rented and improved the rundown yard and made substantial capital investments during the period that it had possession of the yard,鈥� D鈥橝ttaray stated. 鈥淐altrans (the California Department of Transportation) inspected the premises periodically, at least once a year, and Caltrans was fully aware of the sublessees and their operations. Even the state (fire marshal) inspected the premises.鈥�

Apex had also repeatedly called the fire department to report fires started at homeless encampments, including along the fence line and at other yards, according to D鈥橝ttaray.

Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor, disagreed with D鈥橝ttaray鈥檚 statement that Apex is not to blame for the incident. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 鈥� Cal Fire 鈥� 鈥渋n a fenced-off area that Apex was responsible for maintaining while they continued to assert rights under the lease,鈥� Gardon said.

Investigators said they鈥檙e seeking help locating a 鈥減erson of interest鈥� and released two photos in a 鈥渃rime alert notification鈥� on social media showing a man in his 30s with a brace on his right knee and apparent burn injuries on his left leg. The photographs were released by Cal Fire and the State Fire Marshal, whose office is investigating the blaze but did not say how he was identified.

No injuries were reported in the fire, but at least 16 homeless people living in an encampment there were taken to shelters.

Brandon Richards, another Newsom spokesperson, reiterated the governor鈥檚 directive for Caltrans to conduct a comprehensive review of all leased sites under the state鈥檚 freeways.

Owners of two of the companies that subleased the property said they also had warned of a fire danger and other hazards related to homeless people living under the freeway. Luis Cartagena of Eagle Wood Services said he stopped using the space for his wood pallet business more than a year ago because he was losing so much to theft.

鈥淭here was a lot of homeless people there, drug dealing, prostitution and there was a lot of theft,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 leave anything.鈥�

Rudy Serafin said he鈥檚 been leasing space under I-10 from Apex since 2009. He uses it to store supplies for businesses in the garment district including hangers, boxes, and bags. He also stores office supplies including hand sanitizer, which is flammable. He estimates he lost $800,000.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what I am going to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am 49 years old. I have no other resources. This is my livelihood. This is what I feed my kids with.鈥�

Serafin said he鈥檚 been unable to get insurance for his business because of concerns about homeless people starting fires to cook in the area. He and other business owners called the city repeatedly to request a cleanup of the encampment, Serafin said. The city removed homeless people from the space once, but the encampments quickly returned, he said.

The city didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment about whether they had received complaints or removed people from the site.

Serafin said he and other contractors received a notice from Caltrans in May saying Apex wasn鈥檛 paying its rent. Serafin and other business owners stopped paying Apex, but lost access to their properties. They resumed paying and tried to work directly with Caltrans, but the agency鈥檚 lawyer said he couldn鈥檛 negotiate with them, Serafin said.

The danger of storing flammable materials under elevated interstates has drawn the scrutiny of federal investigators in the past. After a 2017 fire collapsed a section of Interstate 85 in Atlanta, the聽 the Georgia Department of Transportation鈥檚 decision to store construction materials beneath the bridge without assessing the fire risk. The department said it immediately changed storage practices.

Taxin reported from Orange County, California. Associated Press writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California; Christopher Weber and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles; Jeff McMurray in Chicago; and Anisha Frizzell in Atlanta contributed to this report.