A homeless encampment was blamed for a Wednesday afternoon brush fire that slowed traffic on the south 605 Freeway near the transition to the 405, the CHP said.
The fire broke out just after 4 p.m., creating billowing black smoke and slowing rush hour traffic to a crawl. In response, Long Beach firefighters asked the CHP to shut down the slow lane.
The blaze was extinguished by 5 p.m. and the lane reopened, a Highway Patrol spokesman Ray Payton said.
Earlier reports blamed the fire on a vehicle that struck an embankment, but the CHP later revised the story.
It's unclear what steps Caltrans might take to deal with the homeless encampment. A in the same area.
Welcome home boys. We sent you to fight a war and when you get back you are, what did you just call him? An "illegally squating vagrant" and a "blight". Forget root cause or attempting to adress it, as long as you aren't bothered on your commute and don't have to see them, that's all that maters. This is such a sad commentary on what our society has become.