HAYWARD -- Three firefighters were injured Thursday when a Hayward Fire Department engine -- responding to assist an earlier crash -- was involved in an accident on the rain-slickened San Mateo Bridge, blocking all the eastbound lanes for more than an hour.
A fire department spokesman said two firefighters were treated and released from Eden Valley Medical Center while a third was admitted with a hip or leg injury.
The fire engine was responding to a two-vehicle accident at 5:51 a.m. when it spun out for an unknown reason, the CHP said. The original accident occurred around 5:50 a.m., between a van and big-rig truck, for an unknown reason.
Eastbound traffic was stopped until nearly 8 a.m. while emergency personnel attended to the accident scene and the firefighters were rushed to Eden Valley Medical Center for treatment.
The morning rains caused havoc all over the Bay Area. Two lanes of eastbound Interstate Highway 80, at Fourth Street in San Francisco were closed due to flooding. The CHP said they were getting three times the number of accident calls throughout the morning commute.
The same was true in Southern California. A quick, drenching rainstorm left rush-hour traffic in disarray because of jackknifed big-rigs and dozens of spinouts. At least one freeway death was reported.
The late-season storm dumped about 1 inch of rain in downtown Los Angeles -- inching the region closer to a record -- but had moved east by 6 a.m., leaving gray skies.
An afternoon chance of scattered showers was expected to give way to dry but cloudy weather by Friday, the National Weather Service said.
The storm brought the seasonal rainfall total in Los Angeles to over 37 inches, making it the second-wettest season on record. Only about 1.5 inches needs to fall by June for the season to surpass the 38.18 inches recorded in the 1883-84 season, according to the weather service.
The California Highway Patrol reported more than 50 crashes during a 45-minute period at the storm's height. In the San Fernando Valley, a driver was killed shortly after 4:30 a.m. when a car and a big rig collided on the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Granada Hills, CHP Officer David Porter said.
It was not immediately clear whether rain caused the crash but the road was wet at the time.
The storm also was expected to dump 3 to 7 inches of snow in the mountains.
Copyright 2006 by KTVU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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