School bus carrying 7 students catches fire on Richmond Bridge

FILE-- A school bus fire Friday afternoon caused a traffic shutdown for about 40 minutes on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, authorities said. FILE-- A school bus fire Friday afternoon caused a traffic shutdown for about 40 minutes on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, authorities said. Photo: PBNJ Productions/Getty Images/Blend Images Photo: PBNJ Productions/Getty Images/Blend Images Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close School bus carrying 7 students catches fire on Richmond Bridge 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

A school bus fire Friday afternoon caused a traffic shutdown for about 40 minutes on the westbound lanes of Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, authorities said.

Three adults and 7 students, ages 11 to 18, got off the bus safely and without injuries. They were coming from the California School for the Deaf in Fremont and headed towards Santa Rosa, CHP officer Andrew Barclay said.

CHP received a call around 2:20 p.m. with reports of a rear engine fire on a school bus. The driver of a tractor-trailer got the bus driver’s attention and alerted her to the fire. Barclay said the engine on the bus “seized up” before the driver could get off on the next exit, but she did pull off onto the right shoulder of the bridge.

Authorities blocked off the westbound lanes of the bridge to respond, but both were open again by 4 p.m.

Ashley McBride is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ashley.mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ashleynmcb