A four-acre grass fire Wednesday along Highway 17 in Campbell brought traffic to a crawl on Hamilton Avenue as crews battled the blaze.
The fire erupted at 3:02 p.m. next to northbound 17, forcing the closing of a portion of Hamilton Avenue and the on-ramps to the highway.
Initially, a one-acre field burned along the freeway and near a PG&E substation. The fire quickly grew to four acres as the winds fanned the flames, which jumped past the on-ramps and over Hamilton Avenue near the Creekside Business Park. Piles of wood below a new trolley over-crossing under construction also caught fire, accelerating the flames, said Dennis Johnsen, arson investigator for the Santa Clara County Fire Department.
Because of the speed of the fire, the department upgraded it to three alarms. Saratoga and San Jose crews helped fight the blaze. Though no nearby businesses were damaged, one home's roof was scorched when embers landed on it.
No one was injured during the blaze, which was brought under control at 4:45 p.m. Johnsen said the cause of the fire was undetermined.
