West Oakland RV Fire Cause of Hourslong BART Transbay Tube Shutdown

BART’s Transbay Tube shutdown on Sunday was sparked by flames from an RV fire in West Oakland, which damaged essential communication cables, officials said Monday.

BART announced around 4 p.m. Sunday that it was halting transbay service after the agency’s dispatch lost contact with train operators in the tube. The damage triggered hours of delays for commuters trying to cross the Bay Area.

Around 11 p.m., the agency announced that crews found damaged cables from a “street-level fire not caused by BART,” and were working to fix the issue. BART later confirmed that the damage was caused by an RV fire at Fifth and Filbert streets in West Oakland.

“This fire damaged cables that allow for communication and safe train operations inside the Transbay Tube,” BART Communications Officer Chris Filippi told KQED.

The Oakland Fire Department sent three engines to respond to the fire shortly before BART cut transbay service on Sunday afternoon.

Oakland Fire spokesperson Michael Hunt said in a statement to KQED that the cause was likely accidental in nature, and that no one was injured or harmed in the fire.

“It is my understanding that this was not intentionally set, so there is no pending criminal investigation underway,” Hunt said. “RV fires are unfortunately rather common. This incident, however, was noteworthy due to the location and its broader impact on transportation services.”

An RV fire at a homeless encampment in West Oakland forced BART to temporarily shut down its West Oakland station last year, according to reporting from The Mercury News.

Although BART said that it was working with AC Transit and Muni to establish bus bridges to provide alternative transportation, many public transit riders took to social media to complain about the effect the shutdown had on their weekend plans.

“None of the station agents announced anything about the Transbay being closed, so people had no idea what was going on. Finally realize something is wrong when no trains go to SF. The station agent at 12th St says there’s a shuttle on the corner of Broadway and 12th. I go up, and there’s literally 500+ people waiting on the corner. No bus comes for 45 minutes, and people are increasingly getting annoyed,” wrote Reddit user nbaballer, who took BART to attend Sunday’s Black Joy Parade in Oakland.

On the other side of the bay, public transit riders in San Francisco also took to social media to report significant delays.

“It was a total mess at Salesforce transit center. Hundreds lined up waiting for buses that never came,” Reddit user earinsound wrote.

BART announced that Transbay Tube service had been restored at 4:29 a.m., just in time for the Monday morning commute.