Grass Fire Impacted Caltrain Service

A grass fire near a hardware store on Middlefield Road charred some trees, knocked out power, and slowed Caltrain service this afternoon, police and fire officials said.

The fire was reported at 4:15 p.m. in a grassy area behind the Orchard Supply Hardware store located at Woodside and Middlefield roads, Redwood City fire Deputy Chief Stan Maupin said.

The fire spread to some trees and was visible to passing motorists, the deputy chief said. Crews contained the blaze by 4:30 p.m., and were leaving the scene
as of 5:15 p.m., Maupin said.

No injuries were reported, but the fire affected power in the immediate vicinity.

Authorities were advising motorists to avoid the intersection because traffic signals were down.  

Caltrain service was affected by the fire and subsequent outage, and trains were traveling through Menlo Park and Atherton area at decreased speeds, Maupin said.

Crews from the  assisted in tackling the grass fire, Maupin said.

--Bay City News contributed to this report