Recycling truck fire closes lanes of I-680 in both directions in Concord
CHP issued a severe traffic alert Tuesday morning after a recycling truck caught on fire on Interstate 680 near the Concord border with Pleasant Hill, shutting down lanes of the freeway in both directions for hours.
CHP said the vehicle fire on northbound I-680 south of CA-242 N in Concord has blocked all northbound lanes as well as the left and center southbound lanes as well as northbound lanes of Hwy 242.
According to Contra Costa County Fire, the call reporting the incident came in at 9:15 a.m. about a fully involved recycling truck fire. Fire officials noted that many these trucks rely on compressed natural gas, leaving fire crews waiting for the gas to burn off before coming close to the truck.
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Crews said the gas was in the dwindling phase of burning off, and crews present think it has burned off all natural gas. However, they need to confirm and are flying a drone over the incident to make sure.
As of around 12:30 p.m., all southbound lanes had reopened. An hour later, all lanes of northbound Highway 242 were closed along with three lanes of northbound I-680, according to California Highway Patrol spokesperson Office Daniel Gilmore.
No injuries were reported and fire crews were stationed on the opposite side of a highway soundwall to protect a residential neighborhood in the area, Con Fire spokesperson Capt. Chris Toler said.
CHP confirmed that the crash was finally cleared and all lanes were reopened at 4:15 p.m. The duration of the incident was 6 hours 42 minutes