Three months after a pallet-fueled fireplace erupted below the ten Freeway, shutting down site visitors for days, new findings present that propane tanks, flammable liquids, defective wiring, flamable materials and comparable pallet stacks posed hazards at dozens of Caltrans-leased properties below and subsequent to the state’s freeways.
Because the fireplace, the State Hearth Marshall inspected 37 websites recognized as dangers, together with a number of in Los Angeles, and located that the majority introduced hazards. In one case, alongside the 101 Freeway close to the Vermont Avenue overpass, the inspectors discovered stacked tires, compressed gasoline containers and piles of trash. Caltrans stated it gave tenants 30 days to right the violations.
The findings elevate new questions concerning the quantity of oversight the California Division of Transportation had over its $35-million airspace leasing program, which leases out 600 properties below and round freeways throughout the state.
For the file:
5:40 p.m. Feb. 9, 2024A earlier model of this text stated {that a} Feb. 6 memo to Gov. Gavin Newsom was despatched by California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin. The California State Transportation Company later stated the memo was despatched by California Division of Transportation Director Tony Tavares.
The memo outlining the company’s evaluate was despatched to Gov. Gavin Newsom by Caltrans Director Tony Tavares on Feb. 6 and particulars a set of suggestions to enhance this system.
In it, Tavares says the state ought to explicitly prohibit storage of oil, gasoline, lumber, pallets, wooden, wooden chips, landscaping supplies, nonworking autos, plastic piping/tubing, tires, paper merchandise, materials, batteries and industrial portions of chemical compounds and cleansing provides below bridges and different buildings.
Officers have not introduced an arrest in the Nov. 11 fireplace believed to have been brought on by arson. Flames ripped via a couple of dozen companies that had subleased a slice of property below the ten Freeway, together with a mechanic, a pallet distributor, a garment provider, a recycler and others whose wares helped gas the fireplace.
For years the companies operated between the freeway pillars on East 14th Avenue a block east of South Alameda Avenue. Alongside the sides, homeless individuals camped and lighted fires to maintain heat. The circumstances apparently didn’t elevate any alarm bells amongst state officers who had inspected the location.
Tavares stated within the memo the company shouldn’t present the identical leeway brokers had given earlier than the fireplace. As a substitute, enforcement must be strict with a brand new coverage to require correction of “high-risk” security violations inside three enterprise days or “an affordable period of time below the circumstances.”
“Caltrans coverage ought to require that dangers involving flammable, flamable, explosive, or different hazardous supplies saved below buildings should be addressed instantly, and enforcement, as much as and together with litigation, must be pursued promptly if a lessee doesn’t comply,” he stated within the memo.
He additionally outlined steps to take higher stock of the leased properties and tighten restrictions on renters.
The 48,000-square-foot triangular lot at South Alameda and East 14th streets, the place the fireplace tore via, had been leased by an absentee landlord, who subleased parcels of the property to others and did not pay Caltrans lease for greater than a 12 months, based on the state.
Tavares stated Caltrans is creating language to replace its coverage handbook with these suggestions and expects to have it prepared by the top of March.
Newsom, who had ordered a evaluate of this system, stated these modifications will “streamline enforcement, enhance actions to deal with dangers, and supply an general safer atmosphere for this program.”
