Vehicle fire on westbound Bay Bridge shuts down lanes heading into San Francisco

A car fire on the westbound Bay Bridge shut down lanes of I-80 heading into San Francisco for about an hour late Tuesday morning, according to CHP.

The car fire happened on westbound I-80 west of Treasure Island shortly before 11 a.m., according to authorities. The fully engulfed vehicle appeared to be a truck in the photo that the San Francisco CHP office posted on social media. 

The fire is currently blocking the #1, 2, and #3 westbound lanes on the bridge. A sig alert was issued due to the traffic impact on the bridge. So far there has been no report of injuries in the fire or what caused it.

Black smoke from the fire was visible on both sides of the bay, leading to a number of social media posts inquiring about the cause.

Fire and tow services responded to the incident to extinguish the car fire and remove the vehicle from the span, CHP said. Video of the incident appeared to show the fire being put out at around 11:10 a.m. 

As of 11:40 AM, CHP reported the right and center lanes had reopened while the left lanes remain blocked. Shortly before 12 p.m., CHP said all westbound lanes of the bridge had reopened. The Oakland Fire Department later confirmed in a tweet that the driver was able to escape safely from the truck and no other injuries were reported.

The vehicle fire was the second major incident to impact traffic in the area Tuesday morning. Earlier, a fatal crash involving a motorcycle on eastbound Interstate Highway 80 in Oakland closed the transition ramp to southbound Interstate Highway 880 in the MacArthur Maze, according to the California Highway Patrol. 

The connector ramp remained blocked as of an hour after the crash, CHP officials said.

Drivers should expect residual delays traveling into San Francisco.  

In:
• CHP
• Bay Bridge
• Car Fire
• Traffic
• San Francisco