Some lanes of south Interstate 5 near Camp Pendleton were closed for hours after a half dozen vehicles in a car carrier caught fire early Thursday, slowing traffic along a stretch of the freeway for much of the day, authorities said.
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The fire was first reported around 5:30 a.m. Motorists reported seeing several vehicles on fire on the double-decker carrier, the CHP said. Caltrans posted on X about 4:30 p.m. that all lanes south of Aliso Creek Rest Area were open.
Fire involving the carrier extended to vegetation near the Aliso Creek Rest Area but was extinguished by firefighters, according to a California Highway Patrol incident log. The driver of the big rig pulled off to the side of the freeway after noticing the flames and was not injured, said CHP Officer Hunter Gerber.
“We don’t know what caused it. It seemed like one of the cars caught fire and the whole trailer went up,” Gerber said..
It appeared the vehicles that caught fire were “a hodgepodge of used cars” and did not appear to be EVs, Gerber said.
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Two lanes of the freeway were closed for much of the day. Traffic maps of the area showed slow speeds getting past the crash site.
Although the incident did not cause any hazardous-material concerns, it was proving difficult to remove all the vehicles quickly.
“I know right now the big hiccup is how to get the last two on the carrier out. I don’t know if they’ll have to cut it,” Gerber said midday. “We got all the cars on the top off so far.”
After the cars are removed and the big rig is towed away, Caltrans planned to sweep the debris from the freeway, he added.
