The fire was expected to burn for as long as 48 hours, forcing the authorities to close part of a highway where a truck carrying the batteries had overturned.
A tractor-trailer carrying large lithium-ion batteries overturned on a highway in Los Angeles on Thursday, sparking a fire, closing part of a freeway and terminals at the Port of Los Angeles, and causing traffic backups.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement Thursday night that the fire was expected to burn for at least another 24 to 48 hours and that a roughly seven-mile stretch of California State Route 47, from the Vincent Thomas Bridge to Long Beach, would be closed in that period.
The Port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in the Western Hemisphere, said that several terminals would be closed on Friday.
The crash in the San Pedro neighborhood on Thursday morning did not result in any injuries, but fire crews were taking precautions to block hazardous materials from potentially spreading from the batteries, one of which exploded, the department said.
The explosion caused the batteries to ignite, causing a “thermal runaway,” a chain reaction in which heat develops extremely quickly, Capt. Adam Van Gerpen of the Los Angeles Fire Department told reporters.
There were flames as high as 10 feet, he said.
Firefighters were letting the fire burn out instead of trying to put it out with water, which would have endangered the environment and been ineffective at extinguishing the flames, he said.
Lithium battery fires are dangerous because they can spread rapidly, be difficult to put out and release toxic gas that can be lethal in confined spaces. The batteries are regulated as a hazardous material by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Details about what led to the rollover were not immediately available, and the amount of batteries in the truck’s trailer was unknown, according to the fire department.
Officials at the California Department of Transportation and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said they were working with emergency responders at the scene to monitor the scene and assess the damage.