A vehicle fire reported about 11:43 a.m. Wednesday destroyed a passenger car aboard a commercial tow vehicle and ignited dry vegetation on the right side of East Interstate 780 between the Southampton Road and East Second Street exit ramps, Fire Division Chief K.C. Smith said.

The fire forced a shutdown of the east lanes of the highway for about an hour, causing traffic to back up to Capital Expressway, according to reports.

Heat from the flames sent an object from inside the car skyward, accompanied by explosive pops.

“Benicia Fire upgraded the response to a first alarm, which included an engine from the city of Vallejo,” Smith said. Benicia police and California Highway Patrol also assisted, he said.

Smith said firefighters aboard Benicia Engine 11 saw that the car, a Ford hatchback fastened to a commercial flatbed trailer, was engulfed in flames that had spread to the grassy area past the paved shoulder.

Both fires were extinguished by Benicia Fire Department in about 25 minutes, and nobody was injured, he said.

In addition to destroying the passenger car, the fire damaged the tow vehicle, Smith said. Benicia officials and those from CHP decided the tow truck would need a tow itself, since they couldn’t determine whether brake lines or other essential components were operational.

Smith said both eastbound lanes as well as the eastbound on-ramp from Southampton Road were shut down so firefighters could battle the blaze safely.

“The car was being towed from the Point Reyes area on its way to its final destination in Pittsburg,” Smith said. “The tow truck driver stated that he heard a loud pop from the vehicle in tow.”

When the driver saw smoke coming from the car, he pulled the rig off to the shoulder, Smith said, and when he walked back to the flatbed he spotted the fire.

He initially tried to put out the flames with a portable extinguisher, Smith said, “but was pushed back by the rapidly growing fire.”

Firefighters were at the site in force when an object, which Smith said might have been a canister, shot up from the fire.

That’s not unusual, he said, because cars use canisters to activate air bags and other safety equipment.

As a precaution, Benicia police evacuated homes in the 500 block of Lori Drive, Smith said, but the fire never threatened any buildings. “It didn’t even run up the hill,” he said.