One eastbound lane of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was shut down Thursday morning while crews work to clean up after a big-rig fire and remove the burned truck from the roadway, a California Highway Patrol officer said.
The truck was filled with 60,000 pounds of sparkling wine from the Korbel vineyards near Santa Rosa, the CHP said. The wine didn't appear to be damaged.
No one was injured in the incident, which was reported at 10:03 a.m. on the bridge at the Marin-Contra Costa county line, according to the CHP. The caller said flames were seen under the truck and a passing motorist alerted the driver. The big rig pulled to the shoulder, and the driver, 59-year-old Sekhon Singh of Rodeo, got out just before it became fully engulfed in flames.
Both eastbound lanes were blocked for about 10 minutes as a fire crew from San Rafael doused the flames, and one lane reopened around 10:32 a.m.
A tow truck removed the vehicle from the right hand shoulder eastbound at approximately 12:28 p.m., the CHP said. Caltrans personnel spent about an hour removing debris, and both lanes were reported open at approximately 1:15 p.m.
Less than 40 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the burned cab of the big rig, the CHP said, but was contained by sand placed on the ground by Caltrans personnel. Bridge engineers examined the site and declared the span safe.
— Bay City News Service
