Fire in Access Portal Beneath 110 Freeway Prompts Extended Closure in Wilmington

Los Angeles Fire Department crews responded to a fire burning inside an access portal beneath the 110 Freeway in Wilmington on the evening of May 4, 2026, triggering a freeway closure and a multi-agency response that stretched into the following days.

The incident was reported at approximately 8:50 PM, with crews arriving to find fire burning inside a confined space beneath the freeway. Given the complexity of the location, Incident Command prioritized firefighter safety from the outset, calling in Heavy Rescue and USAR companies to assist with access and suppression. A Caltrans highway engineer was also brought to the scene to support tactical planning. LAFD's firefighting robot, RS3, was staged at the scene, though conditions inside the access portal prevented its deployment.

The fire forced the closure of the 110 Freeway in both directions between Channel Street and Harry Bridges Boulevard. A broad coalition of agencies assisted throughout the incident, including the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works (including its Bureau of Sanitation and Bureau of Street Services), the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Health Hazardous Materials Division, and private companies, all working alongside LAFD to support traffic control, hazardous materials monitoring, and overall scene management.

While firefighters removed a significant amount of debris from the access portal, burning construction timber and other unmovable materials required sustained suppression efforts. Incident Command prepared for an extended operation, rotating in fresh crews from across the city to maintain an unbroken firefighting effort and give relief to firefighters working in the demanding conditions. As part of that extended operational coordination, Unified Command was established with the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans.

Unified Command declared a knockdown of all fire in the access portal at 3:27 PM on May 5. As of May 6, operations on scene remain active. Crews worked through the night utilizing vacuum trucks to remove water that accumulated in the tunnel during firefighting operations. Northbound lanes of Interstate 110 between John S. Gibson Boulevard and Harry Bridges Boulevard remain closed as Unified Command continues to oversee dewatering, a comprehensive search of the tunnel, and a structural stability assessment of the freeway.

Once conditions allow crews to safely enter, Caltrans engineers will work to remove debris and conduct a full structural investigation to determine whether the incident caused any damage to the highway. The search of the tunnel is being conducted with the assistance of drones, robots, hazardous materials teams, and Urban Search and Rescue teams. No estimated time for the reopening of the northbound lanes has been established.

No injuries have been reported from scene, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

This article will be updated as the incident progresses.