A big rig jackknifed, spilled more than 100 gallons of fuel onto a Peninsula highway, and caused an interruption to Caltrain trains early Tuesday in what was one of two wrecks that made for a brutal morning for commuters, authorities said.
The other crash happened on an East Bay freeway.
The bigger of the two wrecks happened on northbound U.S. Highway 101 near S. Airport Boulevard, one of the exits for the San Francisco International Airport. That wreck happened about 5 a.m.
In that wreck, a big rig jackknifed and spilled approximately 160 gallons of fuel into the three right lanes, the CHP said. The big rig also hit the fence that separates the Caltrain tracks, knocking the fence onto overhead power lines, authorities said.
Caltrain spokesperson Dan Lieberman in a Tuesday statement said Caltrain lost its power from San Francisco to South San Francisco because of the crash. Caltrain got power back on the northbound track and sent trains through on a single track through the affected area, he said.
Delays were expected throughout the morning and Caltrain advised travelers to use other means of transportation. BART, SamTrans and Muni all were options, and BART was honoring Caltrain tickets.
There was no time estimate for when full Caltrain service would be restored.
The latter of the two wrecks happened about 5:05 a.m. on southbound Interstate 680 just south of the Andrade Road exit near Sunol. That collision involved a pair of big rigs, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The wreck left debris strewn across the southbound lanes and left only the far left lane open until about 5:45 a.m.
The CHP issued Sig Alerts for severe traffic for both wrecks. At 8 a.m., only the Sig Alert on Highway 101 still was in effect.
The CHP said there were no reported injuries in either crash.