{"id":11694,"date":"2025-10-18T18:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T18:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/11694\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T18:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T18:45:07","slug":"section-of-i-5-through-camp-pendleton-closed-due-to-live-fire-demonstration-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/11694\/","title":{"rendered":"Section of I-5 through Camp Pendleton closed due to live-fire demonstration \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

The California Highway Patrol began closing a large swath of Interstate 5 Saturday morning due to lingering safety concerns over a planned live-fire demonstration at Camp Pendleton that will be witnessed by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later in the afternoon, state authorities said.<\/p>\n

Closures began to go into effect around 10:30 a.m., according to a CHP traffic incident log, and will last until the end of the event, which is set to wrap around 3 p.m. with remarks from Vance.<\/p>\n

The CHP had said earlier that the freeway would be closed from Harbor Drive to Basilone Road. However, motorists were also prevented from getting onto northbound I-5 at several on-ramps in Oceanside, including Mission Boulevard, Oceanside Boulevard and state Route 78, according to the CHP log.<\/p>\n

State officials cited \u201cextreme life safety risk\u201d and sudden, loud explosions that could distract drivers, saying the closure decision comes at the recommendation of the California Highway Patrol.<\/p>\n

The Saturday morning announcement comes days after Camp Pendleton officials said it was not necessary<\/a> to close the busy freeway that runs through the base. Base officials told state authorities that is because the exercise \u2014 an amphibious assault landing \u2014 would be conducted on its training ranges, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

However, late Friday, event organizers asked for CalTrans signage to be posted along I-5 that would read: \u201cOverhead fire in progress,\u201d according to Newsom. State officials near Camp Pendleton also observed live munitions being fired near the freeway on Friday as an apparent practice run, according to the office.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, military officials confirmed with state officials that the live-fire exercise would begin at 1:30 p.m., Newsom\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President is putting his ego over responsibility with this disregard for public safety,\u201d Newsom said in a statement Saturday. \u201cFiring live rounds over a busy highway isn\u2019t just wrong \u2014 it\u2019s dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican whose district encompasses much of North County, called the decision to close the freeway \u201ca petty stunt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Marines at Camp Pendleton have been firing live rounds and training beneath I-5 for over 50 years \u2014 without closing the freeway. There is zero reason for this sudden shutdown,\u201d Desmond said in a statement on X. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just an inconvenience \u2014 it\u2019s going to cause medical emergencies to be delayed, workers to miss shifts, and families to have their plans and events ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drivers are encouraged to visit quickmap.dot.ca.gov for real-time traffic information before traveling in the area Saturday.<\/p>\n

The assault demonstration \u2014 likely to involve several ships, aircraft and landing vessels \u2014 will be filmed by the White House for inclusion in a national primetime broadcast on Nov. 9, one day before the official 250th anniversary of the Marines, Camp Pendleton officials said in a statement. The Navy celebrated the same milestone earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Several other dignitaries, active-duty troops and family members are also expected to attend the event on base.<\/p>\n

Protesters have also planned to gather at the military base\u2019s main gate Saturday afternoon as part of the No Kings day of protest.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 18, 2025 at 8:32 AM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The California Highway Patrol began closing a large swath of Interstate 5 Saturday morning due to lingering safety…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11695,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,138,181,23,1703,100,3054,74,84,76,75,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-11694","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-military","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-north-county","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-san-diego-county","17":"tag-san-diego-headlines","18":"tag-san-diego-news","19":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}