SigAlert: Hay Bale Fire Jams Traffic Along 210 And 118 Freeways

LOS ANGELES, CA — A hay bale fire spread to nearby brush, triggering a SiGalert along the Foothill (210) Freeway in Pacoima at the RonaldReagan (118) Freeway. Lane closures were expected to last for hours Saturday afternoon.

Firefighters quickly contained a fire that broke out in some stacked hay bales adjacent to the grass near the Foothill (210) Freeway in Pacoima. Firefighters were dispatched at 12:26 p.m. Saturday to the eastbound freeway near the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway on a report of an approximately half-acre brush fire with one outbuilding initially threatened, said Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Firefighters had the blazed contained at 1:02 p.m., Stewart said. At 2:30 p.m., Stewart reported firefighters would remain on the scene to conduct "extensive overhaul operations" and clear out about 1,000 hay bales to ensure the fire is out.

The California Highway Patrol issued a Sigalert shutting down lanes 4, 5 and 6 of the westbound Foothill Freeway until firefighters cleared the scene. The California Highway Patrol issued a SigAlert for the area shortly after 1 p.m., and it was anticipated to last into the 3 0'clock hour.

No structures were threatened and at least one vehicle, by the hay bales, was damaged. No injuries were reported.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.