Pleasanton Homes Spared From Flames From Car, Grass Fire

PLEASANTON, CA — A vehicle fire on Interstate Highway 580 between Santa Rita Road and El Charro Road tonight spread to adjacent grass and to a nearby backyard fence, but was stopped short of threatening houses near the freeway, the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department said.

The fire was called in to the California Highway Patrol at 6:48 p.m. Sunday as a grass fire adjacent to the freeway, but it was soon evident that a Toyota Scion was on fire on the eastbound highway shoulder, said LPFD Battalion Chief Aaron Lacey. The car, he said, was "completely involved" and generated thick black smoke.

The grass fire, which Lacey said burned a 300-by-20-foot patch along the freeway shoulder, also burned a fence in the backyard of a home in the 3600 block of Annis Circle a half mile west of El Charro Road. But Lacey said no houses in that tract were damaged by fire.

"The fire was moving toward the backyard of a residence with a wood pile and a shed," Lacey said. "Without quick action (by firefighters) it could have spread, but it probably would have taken a while."

No one in the burned car, nor any firefighters, were injured, Lacey said. The fires created substantial backups on Interstate 580 for almost two hours, mostly affecting eastbound traffic.

By Bay City News

Photo courtesy LPFD