'Ridiculous day:' Fuel spills and metal beams on Bay Area highways

Fuel spills and metal beams on Bay Area freeways Thursday morning made for a "ridiculous day," KTVU traffic reporter Sal Castaneda said.

S. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Fuel spills and metal beams on Bay Area freeways Thursday morning made for a "ridiculous day," KTVU traffic reporter Sal Castaneda said.

A jack-knifed big rig spilled 160 gallons of fuel on southbound Highway 101 in South San Francisco about 5 a.m., which affected anyone trying to get to the San Francisco International Airport.

The 18-wheeler truck also hit a fence that separates the Caltrain tracks, which struck overhead power lines.

The truck driver told police that someone cut him off, forcing him to veer to the right.

That prompted Caltrain to delay service from San Francisco to South San Francisco for a while.

In an interview with KTVU, CHP Officer Mark Andrews said Caltrans crews were able to prevent the diesel from getting into the creeks and waterwys.

The rig was cleared by 8:30 a.m. and SkyFox flew overhead, showing crews repairing the damage to the bridge railing.

A Caltrans supervisor said it would take most of the day for crews to replace about 110 feet of metal guardrail.

About five minutes after the Peninsula wreck, a pair of big rigs crashed in Alameda County, causing a spill of metal beams on Interstate 680 caused a Sig-Alert in Sunol.

That cleanup was expected to last for about five hours.

No injuries were reported in either crash.