The northbound side of the busy Interstate 15 freeway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas has been closed since early Friday after a large truck carrying lithium batteries overturned, caught fire and posed a chemical hazard.
A single-vehicle crash occurred just after 6 a.m. Friday near the Afton Road exit, causing traffic backed up for miles. Traffic was then diverted to share the designated southbound lanes of the highway between Barstow and Baker in San Bernardino County, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department said Saturday morning that multiple attempts had been made to use heavy equipment to move the truck’s hazardous materials container from the shoulder of the highway to an open area.
“However, these efforts have so far been unsuccessful as the container weighs more than 75,000 pounds,” the ministry said.
The highway is being closed because “lithium-ion battery fires are particularly dangerous due to the chemicals released when they off-gas,” the agency said.
The remote location of the accident site also posed challenges for emergency responders.
“One of the major challenges in this remote area is the logistics of transporting equipment, personnel and water to the scene,” the fire department said. “This area of the county is very remote from many of our fire stations…Current traffic conditions have made response times even longer.”
The CHP said it is monitoring air quality within the danger zone.