Editor's Note: Updated as of 3:35 p.m.
Two lanes of eastbound Interstate Highway 580 east of Hopyard Road in Pleasanton remain shut down this afternoon as crews work to clean up the remnants of a big-rig accident and fire.
The 1:20 p.m. accident sent three people to hospitals with minor injuries.
CHP Officer Scott Cakebread said a big-rig carrying a construction crane apparently sideswiped a Toyota 4Runner that was stopped alongside the freeway and then started sliding and scraping against a concrete wall.
As the big-rig slid to a stop, diesel fuel and hydraulic fluid spilled and ignited, he said.
Cakebread said the truck driver and his 7-year-old son who was riding with him jumped from the cab of the truck to safety, but suffered minor injuries. The boy was transported to Children's Hospital in Oakland.
A woman who was driving the 4Runner was also transported to a hospital with minor injuries.
There is no estimated time for the two lanes' reopening, Cakebread said. Other eastbound lanes are open, but the clean-up equipment is causing a visual hazard that is backing up traffic significantly in the area.
According to Jane Moorehead, Deputy Fire Chief of Livermore-Pleasanton Fire, the big-rig had three occupants in the cab of the truck when the collision occurred.
"We believe the truck caught fire immediately after the collision and two of the occupants, the 7-year-old boy and the other adult, jumped out of the truck cab and jumped over the freeway wall, dropping about 20 feet into the ditch on the south side of the freeway to escape the fire," said Moorehead. "The adult was transported to Eden Medical Center and the boy was taken by ambulance in Children's Hospital."
Moorehead says the small vegetation fire started after the fire on the burning truck dripped down the freeway wall onto some dry grass below.
"We had six engines, one truck, two ambulances and about 24 fire personnel on this collision," commented Moorhead. "No fire personnel were injured during the incident."
Moorehead says the big rig's load had shifted into a "precarious position during the collision and may be difficult to tow." According to Moorhead, the cab of the truck was completely destroyed by the fire.
Officer Miller of the California Highway Patrol says they are not sure when the collision will be cleared and that a SIG alert has been issued.
Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
