Investigators found fire and safety hazards on land under I-10 in Los Angeles before arson fire

By STEFANIE DAZIO
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — State investigators repeatedly identified fire and safety hazards at a leased storage space under an elevated Los Angeles freeway before it burned in an arson fire last weekend. The state’s transportation agency has released a series of documents about inspections to the site that flagged problematic conditions that fed last Saturday’s blaze. Authorities have also identified a “person of interest” in the fire and are seeking the public’s help to find the individual. All lanes of Interstate 10 near downtown are expected to reopen by Tuesday. Crews were brought in to shore up the mile-long stretch after the blaze burned about 100 support columns.