SOUTH LAKE COUNTY – On Tuesday afternoon officials shut down a portion of Highway 29 over Mount St. Helena for several hours due to a bus fire that in turn caused a small grass fire.

The California Highway Patrol reported that Caltrans closed Highway 29 at Tubbs Lane in Napa County and also on the Lake County side of Mount St. Helena due to the fire involving a tour bus, which first was reported at approximately 12:48 p.m.

Power lines also were reported to be down in the area, requiring the assistance of Pacific Gas and Electric to cut power to the lines before they caught fire.

Michael Selmi of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center in St. Helena said the tour bus caught nearby grass on fire, burning one and a half to two acres on each side of the highway. He said firefighters have contained the blaze.

No one on the bus was injured, Selmi reported.

Selmi said the highway was expected to be closed until about 5:30 p.m.

Cal Fire remained at work for several hours mopping up the fire area, he said. “We'll be on scene there for a while.”

Selmi said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

CHP reported that one-way traffic control was instituted at around 6:30 p.m., and the roadway was clear and fully reopened about an hour later.

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