Brush Fire Near Caltrain Station In Burlingame Causes Major Delays
BURLINGAME (CBS SF) -- A brush fire that spanned both sides of the Caltrain tracks in Burlingame Wednesday evening caused major delays for the rail service throughout the evening commute, fire and Caltrain officials said.
Burlingame police asked Caltrain to halt train service at 6:15 p.m. because of a brush fire near the Broadway station, according to Caltrain.
A San Mateo County fire dispatcher said that the fire was burning in the area of California Drive and Dufferin Avenue.
The fire spanned about two-and-a-half acres and started on the east side but spread to the west side of the tracks, prompting firefighters to shut down train service to keep firefighters safe as they worked to put out the fire, Central County Fire Department Division Chief Rocque Yballa said.
Firefighters quickly contained the fire but the tracks remained closed for about two hours while crews worked on putting out hot spots and making sure the fire didn't flare up again, Yballa said.
"Any time you have combustible vegetation, you need to break it apart to make sure it doesn't re-flash," Yballa said.
The tracks reopened shortly after 8 p.m., but major delays on the service continued due to the long track closure, Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said.
Samtrans provided a free bus bridge between San Mateo, Burlingame and Millbrae while SamTrans, VTA and BART accepted Caltrain tickets Wednesday evening, she said.
No one was injured by the fire and investigators are working to determine what caused it, Yballa said.
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