TEMECULA -- Traffic on Rancho California Road nearly came to a standstill for about two hours Sunday after a car smacked into a power pole, which sparked a brush fire, officials said.

When the car hit the pole at about 3:37 p.m. near the intersection with Monte De Oro Road, it caused live power lines to fall onto Rancho California and vegetation caught on fire along the road, officials said.

The California Highway Patrol had the road completely blocked to traffic in both directions by 4 p.m., a CHP dispatcher said, while crews from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection grappled with the fires and the live wires.

The firefighters doused the blaze within a half hour after it had burned about a half-acre, CDF Engineer Jeff Windham said. The road remained closed until shortly before 6 p.m. while the firefighters mopped up the scene and cleared the street, he said.