Tree Downs Power Lines, Sparks Brush Fire

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/100412_tree_downs_power_lines_sparks_brush_fire/

By Tom Bolton, Noozhawk Executive Editor | @tombol | 1:50 p.m.

Blaze along Highway 154 in the Santa Ynez Valley is contained to a half acre

Santa Barbara County firefighters have contained a vegetation fire that broke out Thursday afternoon in the 2500 block of Highway 154 in the Santa Ynez Valley.

Crews were called out shortly before 1 p.m. on a report of a tree that had fallen into some power lines, sparking a blaze in the brush below, according to emergency radio traffic.

The fire was burning in heavy oak woodland, said fire Engineer Russ Sechler.

The blaze was near a rock quarry and the Circle V Ranch Camp, which is south of the highway and Lake Cachuma.

A county helicopter crew reported that the fire, originally estimated at a quarter acre, was burning very slowly, and it was contained at half an acre, Sechler said.

Fire crews from Santa Barbara County and the U.S. Forest Service were expected to remain on scene doing mop-up work, Sechler said, adding that a fire investigator had been called to the scene.

— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/100412_tree_downs_power_lines_sparks_brush_fire/