‘Traffic apocalypse from hell’: I-15 cleared, but remains closed northbound after fire
Thousands of motorists were stuck Saturday on two major Southern California highways including Interstate 15, the main route to Las Vegas, after a truck carrying large lithium batteries overturned and caught fire, prompting a full closure of the northbound I-15 lanes, officials said.
The crash on the highway near Baker, California, before 8 a.m. Friday, created a nightmare for motorists for more than a day and a half, with some calling it a “crisis situation” and a “traffic apocalypse from hell.” When drivers trying to avoid the freeway closure headed south to Interstate 40, that freeway also became a parking lot.
“Thousands upon thousands of commuters headed for Vegas are stuck,” California Highway Patrol Officer Shane Hernandez said Saturday morning.
Hernandez estimated the I-15 backup was probably 15 miles at some point as heavy Friday afternoon traffic en route to Las Vegas stacked up.
It wasn’t clear by Saturday night when the road would be reopened.
As of 4:30 p.m. Saturday, about 32 hours after the incident began, officials were working on a new plan of action but did not have a specific timetable, Hernandez said.
Fires involving lithium batteries are particularly hazardous because they produce chemicals and toxic gases, which made it essential to handle the situation with extreme caution, fire officials said.
Crews were waiting for more hazardous materials specialists to arrive, and there was likely to be a need for a large lifting device, he said.
“They will not be opening (the road) anytime soon,” Hernandez said in a text.
‘Traffic apocalypse from hell’
Drivers recounted a brutal experience.
“It’s been a traffic apocalypse from hell,” said John Tournour, 58, on Saturday morning. He had been traveling from Southern California.
Tournour, the well-known sports talk radio host on the Las Vegas Sports Network who goes by “J.T. the Brick,” had been on the road since 1:30 p.m. Friday and was forced to spend the night in Barstow.
Tournour said he was worried for elderly people and children who were caught up in the jam in the triple-digit heat, as well as those who were running out of gas.
“No one understands what’s going on out here,” Tournour said. “It’s a crisis situation.”
The truck was carrying six industrial-scale lithium metal batteries in a container that weighed more than 75,000 pounds. It burned all night, spewing toxic gasses and was still smouldering into Saturday night as officials pondered how to extinguish and remove the wreck.
I-15 backups that had begun early Friday and lasted into Saturday had been cleared, but traffic could only go southbound. I-40 was also still congested.
On I-15, all northbound and southbound traffic was stopped from around 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. After the southbound lanes were reopened at about 3 p.m. Friday, southbound traffic to Southern California was said to be moving.
An unknown number of motorists had to find shelter in Baker or Barstow hotels or spend the night in their vehicles.
There were social media reports of many people sleeping in their vehicles overnight with temperatures around 100 degrees.
A significant number of calls for medical attention because of the extreme heat were fielded by the San Bernardino County Fire Department, according to Fire Captain and Public Information Officer Jeremy Kern.
Kern said that no fatalities had been reported.
Kacee Lavigne, a 38-year-old Las Vegas resident, considered her nearly six-hour drive from Las Vegas to Riverside on Friday to have been a luckier outcome than most.
The truck was still burning when she drove past. “All the fire and ambulances were hanging back pretty far,” Lavigne said. “They really couldn’t go near it.”
While Lavigne was traveling south, she said the northbound lanes were “dead-stopped.” Even on the southbound side, vehicles began off-roading, she said.
Some of the cars that went off the road in an attempt to pass traffic got stuck in the desert, Lavigne said.
Lavigne saw several drivers pull over to use the restroom, one woman pull over to breastfeed her baby and several people pull over “to go smoke a blunt.”
California Department of Transportation Emily Leinen said Saturday that the department was turning everyone around, diverting drivers at the Harvard Road exit.
The northbound lanes would remain closed until the fire authority says it is safe to lift the closure, Leinen said.
The Clark County Fire Department was monitoring the situation, according to Assistant Fire Chief Carlito Rayos. The department was coordinating with the San Bernardino County Office of Emergency Services and offered resources to help with getting the truck upright, Rayos said.
On Friday night on I-40, motorists took to the shoulder in an attempt to get ahead of the heavy traffic. Twenty- to 30-mile stretches of that interstate were taking two to three hours to traverse.
At points along the route semi trucks pulled over on the shoulder. Cars driving on the shoulder collided with stopped trucks, with accidents occurring along the route.
In Las Vegas, University Medical Center spokesperson Scott Kerbs said that the trauma team at the hospital was not aware of any patients being admitted in relation to the closure.
A representative of the Nevada Resort Association, which represents more than 60 Southern Nevada resorts, said it’s too soon to tell how much the I-15 closure is affecting visitation this weekend.
“I know the resorts are working with customers that are impacted by the situation,” said Dawn Christensen, spokesperson for the association. “It’s another example of why more investment is needed on I-15.”
When asked if speed might have been a factor in the rollover, which was still under investigation, Hernandez said, “You hate to speculate, but it sort of looks like that.”
Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com. Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal photographer L.E. Baskow, staff writer Richard Velotta, and business editor Erin Edgemon contributed to this report.