Truck Starts Blaze Near Pyramid Lake

A brush fire sparked by a lumber truck scorched more than 300 acres Wednesday and forced the closure of a 5-mile stretch of Interstate 5.

More than 500 firefighters were battling the blaze into the night, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department said it expected to have the fire under control by early today.

The fire started about 2:45 p.m. when wood on the southbound lumber truck caught fire, apparently because it was too close to an exhaust pipe, said Gail Wright, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. Flames spread to the dry brush alongside the freeway near Pyramid Lake, she said.

The blaze came dangerously close to motorists traveling along the freeway. For about two hours, California Highway Patrol officers closed all traffic lanes in both directions, from the California 138 junction to the Smokey Bear Road exit, causing a massive traffic jam, said Edward Osorio, a county Fire Department inspector.

The northbound lanes were reopened by 6 p.m., and southbound lanes by 7 p.m.

Two U.S. Forest Service firefighters suffered minor smoke inhalation and were taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, where they were treated and released.

With slight winds, firefighters hoped to contain the fire about midnight, Osorio said.

Crews from the state Department of Forestry and Bureau of Indian Affairs helped battle the blaze.

Air tankers and several helicopters swooped down to gather water from Pyramid Lake to help douse the flames, Osorio said. More than 10 crews from the U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles County probation camps dug ditches and helped firefighters beat back the flames.

This was the second time in as many days that motorists were inconvenienced on Interstate 5. A chain-reaction crash near Lake Hughes Road involving seven big-rigs tied up traffic Tuesday afternoon in the freeway’s northbound lanes. It took more than three hours for towing crews to remove the trucks from the freeway.