Two trucks became stuck on San Francisquito Canyon Road — during separate incidents — on Thursday after attempting to use the road to bypass the traffic on Interstate 5 caused by the Route Fire.
Trucks are not allowed on the road and Officer Josh Greengard, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, said CHP did not direct any trucks onto it.
One truck got stuck on a bridge and another got caught on a guardrail. By midday Thursday, both trucks had been removed and cleanup was under way, according to CHP officers on the scene.
Greengard said the CHP closed off San Francisquito Canyon Road at Copper Hill Drive due to safety concerns and the anticipated path of the fire.
Capt. Ed Krusey said Thursday morning that the CHP did not have the resources at the time to prevent trucks from going on to San Francisquito Canyon Road.
“We have limited resources and so most of our resources were diverted to the point of most risk, which would be where the fire area was,” said Krusey. “Big rigs are not allowed to go up there and we actually frequently cite them up there. So they aren’t supposed to go up there… So we did not have resources deployed there to account for anything like that. All [officers] were designated to address the fire and the issue that we have in this area right now.”
The L.A. County Public Works Department issued a news release Thursday morning saying San Francisquito Canyon Road was ”closed between Copper Hill Road in Santa Clarita and Spunky Canyon Road in the community of Green Valley in response to an overturned semitruck blocking a bridge. Los Angeles County Public Works engineers are inspecting the structure for potential damage.”
Traffic in the area was being detoured to Bouquet Canyon Road, the statement said, and advised motorists to visit the L.A. County Public Works website at pw.lacounty.gov/roadclosures for road closure updates.
