Car Fire Jumps to Brush, Igniting Patches

A car fire on Interstate Highway 280 ignited multiple patches of brush stretching as far as a half-mile this morning, causing the closure of two southbound lanes.

No structures were threatened and no one was hurt.

The fires were reported at about 10:45am near the Crystal Springs Road off-ramp from southbound Highway 280, CHP Officer John Short said.

"Following the sirens of multiple emergency vehicles, a hovering helicopter and two circling small planes caught my attention around 11:00am this morning," said resident Janet Barker. "When I got there about 11:30 the fire was out and traffic was running slowly in the two left northbound lanes. It looked like a car fire that spread to grass and shrubs."

The fires had been largely extinguished as of 11:20am, but the emergency response has caused the closure of the two right lanes of the highway, as well as the off-ramp to Crystal Springs Road, Short said.

"There were multiple spots so they had to send out multiple engines," said a dispatcher for the San Mateo County Fire Department. "The helicopters were precautionary."

The lanes are expected to be closed until at least 12:15pm, he said.