Motorcyclist injured on Highway 101

A motorcyclist was thrown from his bike Tuesday after rear-ending a vehicle on Highway 101 south of Petaluma, emergency dispatchers said.

The motorcyclist crashed in an area where a fire was burning on the side of the road, causing traffic delays near the Kastania Road exit, according to CHP reports.

The small brush fire was reported at 3:16 p.m., the CHP said. Eleven minutes later, a caller reported that the motorcyclist rear-ended another vehicle in the southbound lanes and was thrown into the fast lane, according to the CHP. The rider was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

The blaze was extinguished before firefighters arrived.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.