BART Transbay Tube shutdown caused by RV fire at homeless encampment that damaged cables near West Oakland station

An RV fire at a homeless encampment on Sunday damaged Bay Area Rapid Transit communication cables, leading to the hours-long shutdown of the Transbay Tube, officials said.

The shutdown started shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday, with BART citing a loss of communications as the reason. Trains were turned back at the West Oakland and Embarcadero stations, and BART coordinated bus bridges with AC Transit and SF Muni to provide riders with alternate options to cross the bay.

The tube remained shut down through the end of BART service on Sunday night. Officials later said that crews had found damaged cables near the West Oakland Station after a street-level fire. 

The Oakland Fire Department said in a social media post at 3:43 p.m. Sunday that an RV was engulfed in flames at 5th and Filbert streets, the site of a homeless encampment next to the elevated BART tracks and just east of the West Oakland Station.

On Monday afternoon, a BART spokesperson confirmed the RV fire was related to the loss of communications. Crews were observed cleaning up the encampment on Monday, and the trackway above the crews showed signs of fire damage.

BART service resumed as normal on all lines Monday morning.