Hwy 154 Back Open After Vehicle Fire Sparks Small Brush Fire

A car fire that broke out just before 1:00 pm Tuesday afternoon quickly spread to nearby brush not far from power lines, triggering a quick response by firefighters.

As flames shot out from beneath a pick up truck, a small plume of white smoke could be seen billowing from Hwy 154, roughly three miles up from Hwy 101.

The vegetation fire, which was quickly put out, shut down traffic in both directions along Hwy 154 between Painted Cave Road to west of San Antonio Creek Road and forced the closure of The Pass at both the top and bottom of the highway for more than one hour.

Fire officials credit the driver of the truck for pulling away from a shoulder near dry brush and toward a rock out-cropping instead, which minimized the size of the small brush fire.