Highway 4 near Brentwood was closed for hours on Wednesday night after a crash in Contra Costa County claimed two lives and started a hazardous battery fire.
After Highway 4 was closed overnight, the CHP announced on social media at 5:30 a.m. that all lanes east of Balfour Road were once again fully available.
According to a CHP spokesperson, patrol officers arrived at the freeway’s lanes close to Fairview Avenue at 10:18 p.m. Wednesday and discovered two cars that looked to have collided head-on in the eastbound lane. Both drivers lost their lives.
Officers and other first responders were unable to approach one of the vehicles, an electric SUV that was on fire, because of the battery’s potential hazards.
Such fires, according to fire officials, usually take more effort to extinguish and prevent from reoccurring.
While a grass fire was blazing, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District reported that the other was on the verge of catching fire.
Compared to a car with a combustible engine, fire experts believe electric vehicle fires present different risks and call for different safety measures.
“The batteries release a toxic gas that leeches the calcium out of your bones, which can tend to be proven to be fatal for whoever is in just that gas,” explained Battalion Chief Jeff Burris.
According to fire authorities, a Lafayette hazmat crew was dispatched and remained on the scene for an additional two hours to ensure the fire was extinguished.
They added that no matter how quickly they were able to extinguish the fire, they probably wouldn’t have been able to assist the victims because the crash itself was so horrific.
The collision’s cause has not yet been determined.
