14 Bay Area overpass sites fail safety inspections

OAKLAND, Calif. - California's fire marshal has discovered dangerous fire hazards at 14 sites under Bay Area highway overpasses.

The safety inspections were prompted by the devastating fire in Los Angeles last November that led to a shutdown of Interstate 10.

The state's fire marshal focused on sites underneath highways that Caltrans leases out.

Caltrans said the fire marshal visited 16 sites in the Bay Area and 14 of the sites failed the inspection.

That includes one site in Richmond along Interstate 580, eight sites in Oakland along I-580 and Interstate 880, and five sites in San Francisco along Highway 280 and Highway101.

Inspectors say they found motor oil and hydraulic fluid at one site in Oakland under I-880, near 5th and Castro Streets. The flammable materials were stored near improper electrical wiring, extension cords and batteries strung together without permitting.

One nearby businessman says there was a recent fire at that spot, and he is not surprised by the report.

"They just had one on 5th and Castro down here. A fire? Probably two weeks ago, three weeks ago, and it's a normal thing for me, because I'm in this area all the time," said Michael Alberto, owner of All Cargo Transportation on 5th Street.

Another spot along I-880 in Oakland on Wood Street, failed safety inspections due to large containers of debris and other flammable materials.

That area was the site of a fire on January first, when piles of debris caught fire under the highway near a homeless encampment.

Inspectors say other sites failed due to businesses stacking flammable materials too close to the highway overpass structures.

The lumberyard at Embarcadero and Fifth in Oakland failed the inspections because it had wood piled more than 12 feet high.

Residents who travel along the highways say they want the state to take action quickly to fix the fire danger.

An Oakland resident named Samantha said she lives near one site and wants the state to follow through on mitigating the danger.

"I think there needs to a firm commitment to a timeline ...to remove these immediate risks as well as over the next few weeks, putting a system in place to correct this so it doesn't happen again," said Samantha.