-By Bay City News
The California Highway Patrol has closed the eastbound lanes of state Highway 4 in Hercules this afternoon.
Rodeo-Hercules and Pinole firefighters responded to a vehicle fire on state Highway 4 after a vehicle struck a telephone pole, causing live wires to fall across the lanes and stop traffic.
Initially fire crews were unable to access the vehicle due to downed power lines. After PG&E arrived at the scene and determined the wires were no longer live, firefighters extinguished the vehicle and vegetation fire.
The driver of the vehicle that crashed into the pole was able to exit the vehicle safely before it was fully engulfed in flames, CHP Officer Peter Van Eckhardt said.
The CHP issued a Sig-alert at 2:40 p.m. and estimate that eastbound lanes will reopen at around 7 p.m.
According to Van Eckhardt, the downed wires were reported at 2:31 p.m. near the Franklin Canyon Golf Course in Hercules.
Eastbound traffic came to a stop after the crash and when CHP officers arrived on the scene they redirected traffic westbound, Van Eckhardt said.
PG&E and AT&T crews are both on the scene repairing the wires and telephone poles.
Eastbound traffic will be unable to use Highway 4 to get from Interstate Highway 80 to Interstate Highway 680 with the closure and will need to take Cummings Skyway instead, Van Eckhardt said.
