A fire that critically damaged the 10 Freeway next to a homeless encampment Saturday was not the first of its kind.
In December 2019, the NBC4 I-Team documented a similar blaze under the downtown Los Angeles freeway that the LA Fire Department said at the time was started in an encampment tucked away in the underpass.
"This Saturday's freeway fire was a disaster waiting to happen," said Estela Lopez, CEO of the Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, which is adjacent to the 10 freeway and to hundreds of homeless encampments that have gone up in flames.
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"There are dozens, if not hundreds, of encampments under that stretch of the 10 Freeway, with a lot of combustible materials that could cause a disaster like this," Lopez added.
In the hours that followed the weekend fire, government officials made conflicting statements about whether there is a connection between the fire and the 16 unhoused people who were living under the stretch of the freeway.
California's Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin said, "It's very possible" that the fire began at the encampment."
Hours later LA Mayor Karen Bass warned not to jump to conclusions about the cause. Bass made similar comments at a Tuesday morning news conference.
For the last five years, the I-Team has documented how the unhoused living under freeways and on the streets routinely light open fires, which is illegal. but fire officials admit they almost never cite the unhoused for these violations.
"Homeless people, when it gets chilly at night, they start fires to stay warm. When they need to cook, they start fires," said Lopez.
As the I-Team has documented, those fires have gotten out of control and torched freeway pillars, nearby apartments, and office buildings.
This weekend's fire erupted in a yard under the 10 Freeway where highly flammable wooden pallets were stored, which are used by businesses that receive large shipments. The unhoused also use pallets.
"Pallets are the currency to people living on the streets. They use them to construct their encampments, they are the flooring, they are the walls," said Lopez.
People like Lopez say the city, county, and Caltrans should not have allowed the unhoused to camp out under freeways, and are hoping this weekend's fire will be a wake-up to forbid the risky practice.
"I pray and hope that this changes the way that government responds to safety threats around our freeways, but I think I'm going to reserve judgement," Lopez told NBC4.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that the damaged stretch of freeway will not require demolition, meaning that repairs are expected to take about three to five weeks.
