Fire on Yerba Buena Island forces lane closures on Bay Bridge

SAN FRANCISCO — All eastbound lanes of the Bay Bridge were closed for more than two hours on Saturday afternoon as San Francisco firefighters responded to a wind-whipped grass fire on Yerba Buena Island.

Lanes on Interstate 80 were closed at about 2:30 p.m. as San Francisco firefighters responded from boats and from the bridge but a statement from the fire department said its fire boats were having trouble reaching the fire.

Their hoses and other equipment caused all eastbound lanes on the bridge to close near Treasure Island Road. Three eastbound lanes were reopened shortly before 5 p.m. Traffic was backed up for miles from Yerba Buena Island to the I-80 / I-280 interchange in San Francisco.

The blaze caused significant impacts on the westbound traffic as well.

The fire burned on a hillside on the southwest corner of the island near the U.S. Coast Guard station and grew to roughly an acre by 3:40 p.m., according to dispatch traffic from CHP.