Oct 13, 2008 8:37 pm US/Pacific
Fire Shuts Down I-215 Freeway In San Bernardino
SAN BERNARDINO (AP) ―
A brush fire alongside Interstate 215 is throwing up sparks that have set buildings on fire blocks away in the city of San Bernardino.
The freeway has been closed in both directions for the second time Monday.
City fire spokesman Steve Tracey says sustained winds are stoking the blaze, which began spreading in the freeway median around 5 p.m.
It was not immediately clear whether the fire was the same one that started in the morning and forced the freeway to close for five hours.
On Monday night, the fire burned 11 blocks along the freeway into a residential and commercial area.
Tracey says a public storage building and another commercial building are still burning.
Mike Arvizo, a city firefighter in San Bernardino, says the first reported fire started in a homeless camp and tore through brush and palm trees along the freeway.
A homeless man has been arrested for allegedly starting the blaze with cigarette butts.
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