Fume Threat Closes Interstate 5

Fearful that dangerous pesticide fumes would blow over Interstate 5, officials shut down the primary highway link between San Diego and Los Angeles for several hours this morning after a fire broke out in a farm building on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base.

The fire also disrupted Amtrak rail service between the state’s two largest cities, and traffic was backed up for miles in both directions on the interstate. The eight-lane interstate was reopened about 10:40 a.m., said Rose Carter, a California Highway Patrol clerk in Oceanside. Earlier, Marine firefighting units controlled the blaze in a farm storage shed, Sgt. Norma Semonski, a base spokeswoman, said.