Semitruck Carrying Scrap Metal Engulfed in Flames on U.S. 101

Thick clouds of black smoke sent drivers pulling to the shoulder on southbound U.S. Highway 101 near the Third Street off-ramp as crews battled a blazing semitruck in the midmorning commute. "A semitruck became 'fully engulfed' in flames near the Third Street off-ramp," said Mark Andrews, spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol, after the initial report.

The CHP incident log shows the first report came in at 10:46 a.m. and records that crews on scene "reported difficulties putting the fire out and needed to remove 'scrap metal' in order to put out the fire." San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Mariano Elías confirmed the vehicle was an 18-wheeler loaded with metal. At 12:20 p.m. Elías said, "The fire was extinguished, and crews are working on removing the debris."

Traffic on southbound U.S. 101 was heavily impacted through the late morning and early afternoon. A CHP post on X noted that as of 11:54 a.m. only the left lane remained open at Silver Avenue, producing major delays for San Francisco drivers heading toward the Bayview and Mission Bay corridors. Video posted on X during the incident shows heavy smoke drifting across the roadway and through the off-ramp network.

Elías confirmed there were no injuries from the blaze. "No one was injured in the fire," he said, while crews focused on debris removal and clearing the roadway of metal fragments and scorched materials that had hampered suppression efforts. Authorities did not provide details about the circumstances surrounding the fire, and no cause had been released by the agencies involved as of the afternoon following the incident.

Traffic control and cleanup continued into the afternoon, and by 3:25 p.m. officials reported that all lanes of Highway 101 in San Francisco had reopened after the truck fire and roadway cleanup partially shut down the southbound side earlier in the day. The episode illustrates how loads of dense, heavy cargo such as scrap metal can complicate suppression tactics and lengthen closures on a critical regional artery that carries commuters from the Peninsula into central San Francisco.

CHP and SFFD records for Feb. 25, 2026, provide the timeline and operational notes, but the identity of the truck operator, ownership of the cargo, and any investigation details have not been released. The lane closures at Silver Avenue and the Third Street off-ramp disrupted morning routes and required coordinated firefighting and roadway-clearing operations before normal traffic flow was restored.