LOS ANGELES \u2014 A 450-foot section of important Interstate 10 near downtown Los Angeles that was damaged in a raging fire will not have to be torn down and replaced, officials said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fire that erupted early Saturday under the 10 freeway, as it is known locally, has been preliminarily determined to\u2002<\/a>have\u2002<\/a>be<\/a>en<\/a>\u2002caused by arson<\/a> \u2014 although who set it remains unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will not need to demolish and replace the I-10,\u201d California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the stretch of interstate could be reopened in three to five weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fire \u2014 which broke out Saturday shortly after midnight in an area where vehicles, pallets and other materials had been stored underneath the interstate deck \u2014 damaged 100 support columns, nine or 10 of them severely, Newsom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The area under the interstate had been leased from the California Transportation Department by a company that had illegally subleased it to five or possibly six other companies, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around 300,000 vehicles use that section of I-10 each day. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and others have been urging businesses to have their employees work remotely or take public transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Investigators believe there was \u201cmalicious and willful intent of starting a fire,\u201d State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newsom said fixing the freeway will be a “24-hour operation, seven days a week, rain or shine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n