A fire that severely damaged a commercial building in Goleta Sunday night appears to have been accidental, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
The three-alarm blaze broke out at about 9:15 p.m. at 950 Ward Drive, in a 30,000-square-foot, two-story structure with corrugated-metal sides.
When firefighters arrived, they found flames and smoke pouring from the building’s windows.
After making an initial interior attack on the flames, firefighters retreated for safety reasons, and spent the next several hours spraying large streams of water into the burning building.
No injuries were reported, and no damage estimate was available.
Investigators were still on scene Monday morning, but have ruled out arson, according to Mike Eliason, a Fire Department spokesman.
“It appears the fire is accidental in nature — unintentional or building-related,” Eliason said.
Investigators still had not pinpointed the cause, due in part to the fact the second floor of the building collapsed in the area where the fire started.
Tenants in the building include Derrick’s Roofing, Above All Storage, the Afghanistan Dental Relief Project, Augie’s Water Systems, Gold Crest Inc. and the Islamic Society of Santa Barbara, according to a sign near the entrance.
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— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
