The Region - News from April 28, 1987

Fire destroyed more than 220 tons of hay and two tractor-trailers in Norwalk, causing about $18,000 damage and closing three lanes of freeway traffic for five hours, authorities said. As the blaze began, truck driver Joaquin Leon Celaya, who was heading south on the San Gabriel River Freeway near Firestone Boulevard, looked in his rear-view mirror and saw flames shooting up from his load of hay, said California Highway Patrol Officer Lyle Whitten. Celaya, who works for Jose Gonzalez Trucking Co. in El Centro, was hauling the load to Long Beach, Whitten said. He said the driver pulled over and telephoned the CHP, which notified county firefighters. By the time firefighters arrived, the hay was engulfed in flames, Whitten said. No one was injured.