Nov. 02--A car fire Friday morning in the Caldecott Tunnel on Highway 24 sent eight people to the hospital and prompted dozens of other motorists to get out of their cars and walk out of the smoke-choked tunnel, authorities said.
The fire, which broke out in a 1988 Acura Legend shortly after 9:45 a.m. in the southernmost of the tunnel's three bores, halted eastbound traffic heading into Contra Costa County. With the two lanes blocked by cars, emergency crews had a hard time reaching the scene.
The middle bore was soon opened to eastbound vehicles, and the bore where the fire broke out was reopened at 11:30 a.m. The eight people taken to hospitals -- most of them children -- were treated for smoke inhalation, said the Oakland Fire Department.
The Caldecott Tunnel consists of three bores -- one for westbound vehicles, one for eastbound, and the middle alternates, depending on the direction of rush-hour traffic. A long-awaited fourth bore, which will end the need to alternate, is scheduled to open the weekend of Nov. 16.
The fire underscored how critical the tunnel is in connecting Alameda and Contra Costa counties -- and the inherent danger of crashes that occur inside the structure.
Just after midnight on April 7, 1982, an AC Transit bus clipped a stalled car in the northernmost bore and then struck a double-tanker truck filled with 8,800 gallons of gasoline.
The tanker jack-knifed, the fuel poured out and a fireball erupted. Seven people died, prompting the state to restrict tankers carrying hazardous materials to using the tunnel between 3 and 5 a.m.
Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @henryklee
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