Interstate 80 opened at Carquinez Bridge after fires closed it; Crockett evacuation lifted
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Two large brush fires near the Carquinez Bridge closed Interstate 80 in both directions for several hours Sunday and forced the evacuation of the southern half of the city of Crockett.
Evacuation orders were lifted by Sunday afternoon and by evening, the fire was 85 percent contained.
The fires burned on both sides of the bridge near Vallejo, as the CHP diverted westbound motorists at Interstate 780 and eastbound traffic to Highway 4. By 3:15 p.m., Interstate 80 was reopened, as fire crews worked to put out hotspots.
The first fire broke out shortly after 9 a.m. near the Glen Cove community east of the toll plaza in Vallejo. Embers jumped the freeway and ignited above the California State University Maritime Academy campus, which prompted the evacuation of students and staff from the area.
By 9:30 a.m., a fire across the Carquinez Strait was burning on a hillside near the community of Crockett. The area is near refinery storage tanks where a massive blaze erupted on Oct. 15.
“We are moving significant resources into that area,” said Steve Hill, a spokesman for Contra Costa fire, said Sunday morning.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered in the southern half of Crockett and evacuation warnings were issued for the rest of the city of about 3,000 people.
The city of Vallejo issued an urgent plea to residents to shut off their sprinklers and conserve water. City spokeswoman Joanna Altman said the city’s raw water pumping station was knocked out of commission by PG&E Corp.’s “public safety” blackout, limiting firefighters’ ability to suppress the fires.
She added that about a half dozen streets were evacuated in Vallejo. Residents and those evacuated from the Maritime Academy could go to an evacuation site at the city’s senior center.
She said about 55 acres had burned in Vallejo by mid-day. Two minor injuries to firefighters were reported, although she wasn’t aware of any injuries to any motorists on the bridge.
Aerial television coverage showed some vehicles burning in the area, and Hill said it appeared that the fire began on one side and that embers were blown by high winds across the Carquinez Strait and ignited a second blaze.
“It does not appear that structures are threatened on the Contra Costa side of the straits,” Hill said.
The Carquinez Bridge is in a hot spot for the Bay Area’s oil refineries. The bridge is about three miles north of the Phillips 66 refinery in Rodeo. The Shell and Marathon refineries in Martinez are about 11 miles from the bridge, while Valero’s refinery in Benicia is about 13 miles east.
This story was originally published October 27, 2019 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Interstate 80 opened at Carquinez Bridge after fires closed it; Crockett evacuation lifted."