10 Freeway Fire Arson Suspect's Image Released To The Public

LOS ANGELES, CA — Authorities released photos on Saturday of the man suspected of setting the storage yard fire that shut down the Santa Monica Freeway, triggering an ongoing state of emergency in Los Angeles.

According to CalFire, the suspect is a dark-haired man in his early 30s, who may have burn wounds on his left leg. He was seen and captured on security footage leaving the area around the same time the blaze started shortly after midnight on Nov. 11.

"The fire was determined to be incendiary (arson) and on State of California property. A person of interest was identified. The subject is wearing blue shorts, black jacket, black backpack and was carrying a green scarf, CalFire said in a prepared statement. "To note, the subject also had a knee brace on his right knee. The subject appeared to have visible burn injuries on his left leg."

He was seen leaving the immediate area of the blaze "and is unable to be located," investigators noted.

Arson investigators describe him as being of unknown race, 6-feet tall and weighing 170-190 pounds. He has black hair and unknown eye-color.

Anyone with information about the suspect is urged to email CalFire's Arson and Bomb Unit at: arsonbomb@fire.ca.gov or call the CAL FIRE Arson Hotline at 1-800-468-4408.

In the meantime, restoration work continues on the fire- damaged freeway in order to reopen it on Tuesday.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) issued an update on Saturday stating that the repairs are on track, with Interstate 10 expected to open between Alameda Street and the East Los Angeles interchange by November 21. There are more than 250 people working at the jobsite on 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The closed portion of Interstate 10 typically carries about 300,000 vehicles per day.

Additional traffic officers are in place this weekend to help motorists navigate the major events in the downtown area, attempting to help alleviate congestion at the USC vs. UCLA football game at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum on Saturday; Los Angeles Kings at the Crypto.com Arena on Saturday; Los Angeles Rams at So-Fi Stadium on Sunday; Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, and the L.A. Auto Show at the L.A. Convention Center Saturday and Sunday.

Los Angeles Mayor Bass earlier directed the Los Angeles City Department of Transportation to make Commuter Express and DASH buses free to encourage commuters to use public transportation. She also requested an increase in the number of white-glove traffic officers in congested areas to assist commuters through busy intersections.

State officials announced 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.

The initial fire was reported at 12:22 a.m. last Saturday 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.

City News Service contributed to this report.