GEORGE TOWN: Although a car fire on the Penang Bridge was put out within five minutes, it still caused a 10km traffic jam on island-bound lanes.

Many motorists, who were already dealing with the morning rush, were stuck for over an hour.

This resulted in them arriving late to work.

Among those affected was customer service executive Nur Izzati Ahmad, 29, who reached her office in Bayan Lepas at 9.15am yesterday.

She had left her home in Seberang Jaya at around 7am.

“Many of us were stuck on the bridge for nearly an hour and did not expect such a small incident to cause a bad jam.

“It is not the first time we’ve had to endure such a traffic jam as any unforeseen event on the bridge tends to cause a terrible backlog.

“The risk of accidents is also high as many vehicles are stuck on the bridge during peak hours,” she said.

Logistics coordinator Tan Wei Jian, 35, from Butterworth, said the standstill caught him off guard while he was on his way to Gelugor for a morning site visit.

“I usually allow some buffer time for traffic but this was on another level.

“Cars were not moving at all. I was late for an important meeting and had to join via phone while stuck in traffic,” he said.

During the 7am incident, a 46-year-old driver pulled over at the emergency rest area and escaped unharmed before flames engulfed her car.

All vehicles, including motorcycles heading towards the island, were temporarily halted as firefighters from the Jalan Perak station on the island rushed to extinguish the flames at the 6.8th km of the bridge.

The traffic jam was reported to have extended to the Sungai Dua and Juru toll plazas on the mainland.

In a statement, the Fire and Rescue Department said it was alerted at 7.04am, with firefighters arriving by 7.20am.

The fire was put out five minutes later.