L.A. fire: Damage to 110 Freeway estimated at $1.5 million, at least

The monster fire that consumed one of two buildings of an upscale downtown L.A. apartment development did at least $1.5 million in damage to the adjacent 110 Freeway, a Caltrans official said Monday.

Patrick Chandler, spokesman for the agency, said the flames destroyed signs, damaged wooden guardrails, palm trees, rubber sealant and metal posts. The fire was so intense and massive that flames shot across the north and southbound lanes, which are each 11-feet-wide, scorching the roadway, he said.

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Burned scaffolding from the gutted building, which stretches for at least a city block along the freeway, threatened to fall on the road, Chandler said, causing the 110 northbound to the 101 Freeway to be closed. Caltrans will hire a contractor to repair the damage, he said.

The fire did about $10 million in estimated damage just to the burned Da Vinci development building, L.A. fire Capt. Jamie Moore said. The nearby Lewis Brisbois building also had significant damage on 14 of its 16 floors, he said.

Moore said he spoke to people who work inside that building who said that their cubicle partitions had burned down and that computers melted from the heat. Three floors were also damaged in the county building at 313 N. Figueroa Street, he said.

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L.A. fire: Damage to 110 Freeway estimated at $1.5 million, at least