Westbound Interstate 580 at the Altamont Pass reopened Friday, hours after an big-rig fire led to a closure of the freeway for nearly the entire morning commute.
According to firefighters, the 18-wheeler caught fire in the westbound direction near Grant Line Road shortly before 6 a.m. and had spread into nearby vegetation. Crews with Cal Fire along with the Alameda County Fire Department responded to the scene.
Forward progress of the fire was stopped by 6:40 a.m., but westbound lanes of the freeway, a major artery connecting the Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley stayed closed. At the height of the closure, the backup on westbound Interstate 580 stretched several miles to the Highway 132 interchange, while westbound Interstate 205 was backed up into Tracy…