A large vegetation fire burning out of control on Vandenberg Space Force Base property created a huge column of smoke on Thursday afternoon before being contained by an assortment of crews.
At approximately 3 p.m., personnel from the Vandenberg Fire Department, along with counterparts from the Santa Barbara County and Lompoc Fire departments, were dispatched to the incident.
Emergency dispatch reports pinpointed the fire’s location being near Orion and El Rancho roads, which is on the northern segment of the sprawling base.
“The fire is on North Base and no evacuations are in effect. The base has initiated mutual aid, and we are in the response phase with no estimated size currently available,” a Space Launch Delta 30 public affairs representative said.
The Orion Fire blackened 26 acres by the time firefights had fully stopped the forward progress more than three hours later.
Responding firefighters reported seeing a significant amount of smoke from Highway 1.
A caller told California Highway Patrol dispatchers that smoke and flames could be seen from San Antonio Road West and Highway 1.
Los Padres National Forest fire personnel also responded to assist.
Firefighters also requested assistance from various resources including aircraft, bulldozer operators and hand crews.
The base typically has restricted airspace, but lifted that for aircraft involved in battling the blaze.
There were no reports of traffic on any public roads around Vandenberg being affected by the fire or firefighting activity.
Vandenberg conducted a successful Falcon 9 rocket launch a few hours earlier Thursday, but the fire is not related.
The SpaceX facility sits on the southern section of the installation, which encompasses more than 100,000 acres, while the fire was burning several miles to the north.