‘Perfect Storm:' Fuel Leak, Fire on Bridges as Rain Hammers Bay Area

A perfect storm — literally — was created for Bay Area commuters on Friday, as the rain pelted the roadways and bridges were shut down because of speeding drivers and a big-rig fire.

Many drivers complained, of course. But others took a more "what can you do?" attitude, either watching TV shows in their cabs, or playing baseball outside their motionless cars.

"I'm just here watching Netflix," UPS driver Chris Penn said, saying he had been stuck in traffic near the San Mateo Bridge after the eastbound connector to 92 was shut down because of a big-rig fire for at least 90 minutes. All lanes reopened just before 1 p.m., who hours after the accident was first reported.

Penn had tried taking the San Mateo Bridge because five hours before the 10 a.m. big-rig fire, lanes heading into Oakland from San Francisco on the Bay Bridge were shut down.

That's because California Highway Officer Vu Williams said a driver going at unsafe speeds crashed on the eastbound side of Interstate Highway 80 at Yerba Buena Island and started leaking diesel fuel about 5 a.m. It took until about noon to clean up all the diesel from the bridge deck.

The words "Ti Ermo King" and Arizona and Fontna were written on the back of the truck that was sheared off in the front. The CHP said the driver was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries.

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NBC Bay Area
A sedan flipped over on a guardrail on Highway 87 in San Jose. Oct. 28, 2016

Further south, the rain caused some havoc for early morning commuters in Silicon Valley.

One person was reported possibly trapped inside a car on northbound Highway 280 south of the 87 connector near the Reed Street offramp before 6 a.m., according to the CHP and San Jose firefighters.

And hours before that, a woman driving a sedan was driving too fast about 11:30 p.m. Thursday and ended up on the guardrail on Highway 87, according to CHP Sgt. Ben Grasmuck. He said she drove through a large puddle on the road, over corrected, spun a few times and drove up onto a concrete divider that separates the freeway from the VTA tracks.

Despite a storm rolling through the Bay Area, many of the vulnerable neighborhoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains are relieved. Robert Handa reports.
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