Crime & Safety
Fire Spanned Both Sides of Caltrain Tracks: No Chocolate Harmed in Incident
Use the gray scroll bar in the box to read the latest news about what's now being called #chocopocalypse on Twitter by frustrated commuters.
Updated Thursday: 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.
The fire spanned about 2.5 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, which was near the Guittard Chocolate Factory but not at the building, as previous reports suggested, 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.
No one was injured by the fire and investigators are working to determine what caused it, Yballa said.
Find out what's happening in San Brunowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Updated 8:08 p.m.: Commuters should expect major train delays along the Peninsula Wednesday evening as a fire shut down Caltrain for two hours.
According to 511.org, SamTrans is providing a free bus bridge between San Mateo, Burlingame and Millbrae. Riders at stations are advised to take SamTrans Route ECR, which serves stops on El Camino Real every 15 minutes.
SamTrans, VTA and BART are accepting Caltrain tickets.
Updated 7:45 p.m.: By Bay City News Service and Patch Staff — A fire at the Guittard Chocolate Factory is reportedly to blame for an interruption in Caltrain service Wednesday night.
All Caltrain traffic in Burlingame has been stopped because of a brush fire in the area, 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.
According to reports on Twitter, passengers have been stuck on trains for more than hour and bus bridges have been put into service to help stranded commuters.
There are also reports that the fire was at a chocolate factory.
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