Forward progress stopped at fire near I-280 in San Mateo Co., CAL FIRE says

SAN MATEO, Calif. (KGO) -- Firefighters were on scene of a 4-alarm grass fire burning along I-280 in Redwood City, right up against Cañada College.

California Highway Patrol said it may have been sparked by a car fire on the freeway that quickly spread to nearby vegetation.

"The wind, obviously, is a factor, as well as the heat. We did have some spotting that actually went over the freeway, which made the incident a little bit more dynamic," said Deputy Fire Chief Eric Zabala, with the Woodside Fire Protection District.

The fire began just before 5 p.m. It shut down both directions of I-280. Fire officials say 10 homes were evacuated - but only as a precaution.

"I am so thankful for all the firefighters for getting here so fast because they just stopped here right at this edge," said Dennis Payne, pointing to where the parking lot of the college meets the fence to the hillside.

Payne lives on the other side of the college and close to the freeway. He said the brush along the hill was trimmed a few months ago, which likely helped reduce the amount of fuel for the fire.

"This is one of our biggest fears, because anything ,like, this small, if it gets up into the canopy, it can just go. And it can really go fast," Payne said.

"I think the helicopters did the biggest. I saw one of them at the flames, get hit with water, and they went out. Those were definitely helping a lot. But it was spreading super quickly," said Dasha Yentous, who watched the flames spread from the college parking lot with her friends.

"There is that house over there. And I know that I was looking at the house -- it really did look like it was going to go after the house. And the wind just got really quick and picked up. You could see the flames going, taking over," said Hailey Jennings, who lives in San Carlos.

Firefighters responded quickly and forward progress was stopped on the northbound side of I-280 around 5:40 p.m. All forward progress of the fire had stopped just before 7 p.m.

CAL FIRE said multiple crews were dispatched to the fire that was estimated at two to three acres around 5 p.m. In an update, CAL FIRE said the fire was estimated to be six acres on the west side of I-280 and four acres on the east side.

Zabala said there are no reports of injuries and no homes damaged.

"We are going to be probably working through the night to make sure that everything is mopped up. And at this time, there is no evacuation order. The community is safe at this time," Zabala said.

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