Crash on I-5 Clogs Traffic on Eastside

A fiery crash involving two big-rig trucks on southbound Interstate 5 froze traffic Thursday on L.A.’s Eastside for most of the morning.

One truck, which was carrying scrap metal, veered out of control and overturned on the transition road from the southbound 5 to the Pomona Freeway about 4:50 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Alex Delgadillo said.

The driver of the second truck, which was trailing the overturned rig, braked to avoid the crash and damaged his trailer, he said.

CHP officers blocked the transition road until about 11:30 a.m., causing traffic to back up all the way to Interstate 5’s junction with the Glendale Freeway. Road crews hurried to unload 45,000 pounds of canned tomato paste from the second truck while they were cleaning the oil-slick roadway.

At the same time, southbound 5 commuters were diverted onto the Hollywood, San Bernardino, Long Beach and Pomona freeways. Others inched toward exits in Boyle Heights, struggling to find alternative routes.

“Where am I? I have no idea,” said Joanna Morehead, 35, who left the freeway in Boyle Heights and dashed into a gas station for directions. “I am so late for work.”

The freelance copywriter, who was trying to get to Vernon, hoped to brave the traffic until the accident cleared. But by 10:30 a.m., she had given up.

“I felt trapped,” she said.

Cathy Browne, a manager for plastic-bag maker Crown Poly, shook her head in disgust as she stopped for gas near the Golden State Freeway. Browne figured that she had enough fuel to make it to work, but she had used it all by the time she escaped traffic in Boyle Heights.

“Everybody’s been calling my office saying they’re going to be late,” said Browne, who was already about an hour late herself. “It’s terrible.”

As a precaution, one of the truck drivers involved in the accident was taken to White Memorial Medical Center -- the same Eastside hospital that driver Hayk Zeytuntsyan was trying to reach.

“I heard my mother wasn’t feeling well, but it’s taking so long to get there,” said Zeytuntsyan, 19, who ran into the traffic jam on his way from Glendale. “I hope she’s OK.”

Delgadillo said nobody was injured in Thursday’s crash, which remained under investigation.