A brush fire erupted in the median of a major Saanich roadway Tuesday afternoon as crews tried to extinguish the flames.

Firefighters were called to the blaze in a grassy median along Blanshard Street near Cloverdale Avenue at around 1 p.m.

Just after 1:30 p.m., Saanich Fire reported that the blaze had been extinguished and that portions of Blanshard Street would reopen shortly.

Traffic was still majorly backed up in the area for hours.

Saanich Fire said when the crew of 14 arrived on scene, the fire was about six to nine metres in size but quickly grew to about 0.4 hectares.

The cause of the brush fire is so far unknown, but Saanich Fire said it's not ruling out a discarded cigarette butt.