The Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to a carport fire in Goleta early Friday.

2010 fire (Jack Kimball / Noozhawk video)

The vehicle, in the carport at a two-story apartment complex at 380 Ellwood Beach Drive, was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived about 6:40 a.m., but they were able to keep the blaze from spreading to the building.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but fire Capt. David Sadecki, a department spokesman, said the fire was similar to two investigated by the department last year involving five vehicles.

One June 3, 2009, firefighters were called out twice to a densely populated Ellwood neighborhood to respond to reports of cars on fire.

Two vehicles caught fire at 350 Mathilda Drive, with the nearby two-story, 25-unit apartment building damaged by smoke and heat. Later, a fire one block east, in the 300 block of Ellwood Beach Drive, in front of a 16-unit apartment building, involved three vehicles.

2009 fire (Jack Kimball / Noozhawk video)

Anyone with information about Friday’s fire is asked to call investigators at 805.686.5074.

— Noozhawk staff writer Ben Preston can be reached at bpreston@noozhawk.com.