Photos by Mark HURTADO and Charly SHELTON

By Charly SHELTON

Cars drove through clouds of smoke as a brush
fire burned on the south side of the Eastbound 210 freeway today.
“We had a vegetation fire right there at the gore point on the
freeway at the Oceanview [Boulevard] exit on the Eastbound 210
freeway,” said Captain Houser of Station 63. Over a period of about
10 minutes, the fire consumed an area in the split point of the
offramp from the freeway which consisted of bushes and plants, but
was caught and extinguished before it reached the surrounding
trees. “We can’t eliminate somebody setting it,” said Capt.
Houser. “But we also can’t eliminate pieces of a catalytic
converter or brake parts starting it, so it’s going to be
officially undetermined.” The freeway was unaffected, except by
smoke clouds, while the Oceanview Blvd. offramp was closed for just
a few minutes while the firefighters of Engine 63 put out the
flames. The only damages were to an approximately 50 foot by 50
foot area in the gore point, said Capt. Houser.