Fire Closes I-5 at Pendleton 5 Hours

The principal freeway and railroad links between Los Angeles and San Diego were closed for more than five hours during the Tuesday morning rush hour after a fire broke out in a pesticide storage area of this Marine base, blowing what was feared to be toxic smoke across the eight lanes of Interstate 5.

Massive traffic tie-ups occurred at the northern and southern ends of the seven-mile freeway closure, which lasted from 6:15 a.m. to 11:33 a.m. Two-hour delays were average for drivers, but no major accidents were reported, a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said.

Motorists were detoured on winding two-lane roads through the Marine base from the Las Pulgas gate south to the main Camp Pendleton gate at Oceanside, bypassing the freeway stretch where drifting smoke obscured vision and posed a toxic hazard.

Bob Forehlich’s usual 45-minute morning commute north from Vista to his job as a counselor and teacher at Saddleback College stretched out to three hours in the traffic snarl that crawled through the base.

“It was a maze,” he said. “But once I figured out I wasn’t going to make it to work on time, I saw the humor.” When the snarl came to a dead stop, Forehlich managed to run from his car to a telephone booth and cancel his morning classes.

“Usually it’s a nice drive,” he said.

On an average day, about 80,000 vehicles could be expected to pass over that seven-mile freeway section during the five hours it was closed, a state Department of Transportation spokesman said.

The three-alarm fire broke out about 5:30 a.m. in the Stuart Mesa area of Camp Pendleton on 425 acres of land leased to Oceanside growers Gene and Harry Singh. Flames destroyed several sheds where pesticides and soil fumigants for tomato vines and other crops were stored.

Several explosions were heard as far as 20 miles from the scene, but Camp Pendleton information officers could not verify whether pesticide drums or nearby butane tanks were involved.

Staff Sgt. John Midgette said wind blew the fumes and smoke toward the ocean and away from populated parts of the base. No evacuations were ordered, and there were no reports of toxic poisoning, base spokesmen said.

San Diego County hazardous materials teams, airlifted to the scene four miles north of Oceanside by a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department helicopter, found that 20 55-gallon drums of the pesticide dichloropropane--trade name Telone--had exploded in the fire.

Temporary Hazard

Gary Stephany, head of the San Diego County Environmental Health Division, said the drums had contained the soil fumigant, a highly toxic chemical. A spokesman for the Singh organization said the pesticide barrels were empty, but Stephany said at least four of the containers did contain chemical materials when they exploded.

However, he said, the pesticide dissipates rapidly and has no long-lasting effects. None of the 25 firefighters and other persons treated at the Navy Hospital on Camp Pendleton showed signs of toxic poisoning, Stephany said. Most of those sent for emergency treatment were suffering from smoke inhalation, heat stress and exhaustion, he said.

Amtrak spokesman Clifford Black said five Los Angeles-San Diego Amtrak passenger trains were delayed or canceled Tuesday before Santa Fe Railway officials reopened the tracks at 11:30 a.m.

A northbound Amtrak train that left San Diego at 5:25 a.m. was halted at Oceanside because of the fire. Its passengers were taken back to San Diego by bus and then bused to Los Angeles, via Interstate 15, Black said. The nonstop Amtrak buses operated between the San Diego and Los Angeles train stations until the line was reopened. Commuter trains also operated between Los Angeles and San Juan Capistrano, he said.

Santa Fe Railway spokesman Tom Blakely said that a spur track and several signal wires were damaged by the fire and exploding debris at the Stuart Mesa farm storage area but that the main Santa Fe track was not harmed. Freight service, which operates once a day from Los Angeles to San Diego, was not affected.

Main Track Unharmed

The first southbound Amtrak passenger train out of Orange County left the San Juan Capistrano depot at 12:01 p.m., said Dana Farr, who runs a travel agency at the station. About eight morning commuters stranded at the depot were rescued at 10 a.m. by a private bus supplied by Amtrak that ferried them to San Diego via the Ortega Highway.

A special Amtrak train from Los Angeles pulled into the depot at 9:15 a.m. to pick up northbound passengers, she said.

Roberts Holiday Line rented four buses to Amtrak to ferry stranded passengers in the Santa Ana and San Juan Capistrano depots, said Greg Erbe, operations manager for the private firm.

Civilian firefighters manning the Camp Pendleton fire equipment were protected with heavy clothing and wore breathing equipment and oxygen tanks as protection against the toxic smoke and fumes. The extra protection “probably wasn’t needed,” Stephany said, “but it was wise to be on the safe side.”

Camp Pendleton officials did not reveal the cause of the fire, saying only that the incident was under investigation.

Times staff writers Lonn Johnston in Orange County and David Smollar in San Diego contributed to this story.

COMMUTERS STALLED BY TOXIC FIRE What: Fire at chemical storage shed caused toxic vapor cloud that spread west to the ocean.

Where: Camp Pendleton, 4-5 miles north of Oceanside, east of I-5 freeway.

When: 5:25a.m.

Traffic: (I-5 closed 6:15 a.m.; reopened 11:33 a.m.)

Northbound closed at Harbor Drive, Oceanside.

Southbound closed at Las Pulgas Road, Camp

Pendleton.

Traffic rerouted through Camp Pendleton.

Caltrans estimates 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles would normally travel that portion of I-5 during the five hours it was closed. Amtrak: Northbound: First train from San Diego (No. 571) delayed at Oceanside, arrived at San Juan Capistrano 1:01 p.m. Next two trains (No. 573, departing San Diego at 6:45 a.m.; No. 575, departing 8 a.m.) replaced by buses.

Southbound: No. 570, departing Los Angeles at 6:15 a.m. delayed at San Juan Capistrano. No. 572, departing 8 a.m., became shuttle train to San Juan Capistrano.