Video: Wildfire Shuts Down Freeway, Torches Cars

As a brush fire spread to vehicles trapped along Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass in San Bernardino County, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said today he had never seen a situation quite as dramatic as the one unfolding on the main roadway connecting Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The fire burning in the Cajon Pass has scorched more than 2,000 acres, and torched a series of vehicles that were stopped on Interstate 5. Chilling pictures from the scene showed people wandering on the shoulder of the freeway, which was turned into a parking lot near state Route 138, as fire skipped from car to car and even to a big rig and car-hauling truck.

“Certainly we are looking at this and trying to figure out how we would handle something like this in our own jurisdiction,” city fire department spokesman Brian Humphrey told City News Service.

Humphrey said in most cases, the safest place to be when a brush fire nears a freeway is inside a vehicle, but each case is different and sometimes abandoning a vehicle and seeking safety is the only choice.

It’s the same decision firefighters face when flames approach them, he said.

When situations like the one in Cajon Pass erupt, cooperation between firefighters and the California Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies is crucial to keeping people safe, Humphrey said.

He noted that motorists and residents may chafe at road closures when fires erupt, but officials prefer to err on the side of caution.

Staying informed through emergency alerts and news reports is also essential for anyone in the area of fast-moving brush fires, Humphrey said.

As of late afternoon, the Los Angeles Fire Department had not sent any resources to San Bernardino County to assist in the firefight.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department, which was battling a brush fire that scorched 3-5 acres along the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway, also has not sent any crews or air units to fight the blaze, a dispatcher said.

City News Service; Photo: Calfire