Emergency crews extinguished a fire Monday morning just before noon on a non-operational natural gas platform in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Several agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the Santa Barbara City Fire Department and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, first established incident command at the Santa Barbara Harbor at around 7 a.m. in response to a fire on Platform Habitat.
The fire was initially reported at about 6:30 a.m. while personnel were conducting decommissioning operations, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson said 26 crew members were evacuated and a 1,000-yard safety zone was active around the offshore platform.
No injuries were reported, and oil was not released from the platform into the water, per the U.S. Coast Guard.
Platform Habitat is operated by DCOR, LLC, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
It is located roughly 7.8 miles offshore from Summerland and was first installed in 1981.
It reportedly is the only platform off the California coast that produces only natural gas.
Lt. Commander Matthew Marler, chief of incident command division for Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, said the Coast Guard is “grateful for the interagency coordination amongst all of our partner agencies during this response.”
“The safety of personnel and protection of the environment remain the Unified Commander’s highest priorities,” Marler said.
Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, said Monday morning his office was “closely monitoring” the fire.
After it was extinguished, he said the fire was a “sobering reminder of the inherent risks that offshore drilling poses to our coast” and called for the use of alternative energy sources.
“Our community shouldn’t have to gamble with our environment, economy, and public health just to pad the pockets of Big Oil,” he said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Well abandonment for 20 of Habitat’s shut-in wells was set to begin late last year, according to the BSEE.
Additional information was not immediately available.
