Two vegetation fires broke Sunday in Vallejo shutting down Interstate 80 on the Carquinez Bridge and forcing the evacuation of a university campus.

The California Highway Patrol said that the bridge, technically part of I-80, was shut down between Highway 4 and Interstate Highway 780, including the bridge. Cummings Skyway was also closed at Crockett Boulevard.

Fifteen minutes after the fire broke out at 9:30 a.m., California State University Maritime Academy sent out an alert for everyone to evacuate the campus because the fire had jumped Interstate Highway 80. Also, residents living in Crockett were told to evacuate, which was lifted just after 12:30 p.m. Images sent to KTVU show some of the university buildings had been damaged.

Smoke blanketed the city and aerial images showed trucks on fire in a parking lot. The Solano County firefighters said one of the fires had reached three alarms.

By 1:30 p.m., firefighters said they had contained 50 percent of the 200-acre fire.

High winds and hot temperatures caused other smaller fires to sprout up across the region as well.


Trucks are on fire in a parking lot in Vallejo because of the Glen Cove Fire. Oct. 27, 2019

For example, a pair of smaller fires sprouted up in Contra Costa County and statewide, the biggest blaze in Sonoma County, where the Kincade Fire had scorched 30,000 acres.