One person received minor injuries, and a small airplane was severely damaged Tuesday when a fire broke out in a hangar at the Santa Maria Public Airport. 

Several city fire engines responded to the fire in a hangar in the 3100 block of Liberator Street on the edge of the airfield, with crews using the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicle to extinguish the blaze with foam.

The hangar is leased to Coastal Valley Aviation, and the fire reported started while employees worked on an aircraft inside the metal structure. A small plane inside the hangar reportedly was totaled.

One person who was in the hangar at the time of the fire suffered arm and hand injuries and went to Marian Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Later, firefighters extended the articulating boom to allow crews to deliver foam to the top of the building.

The department’s ladder truck also was used to let firefighters could get a better look at smoldering hot spots on the hangar roof.

This was one of the first outings for the relatively new ARFF vehicle, which at 3,000 gallons holds two times as much as its predecessor.

“Having that available was huge,” said Battalion Chief Ed Hadfield of the Santa Maria Fire Department.

The ARFF vehicle’s articulating boom allowed firefighters to direct water onto the top of the building.

The hangar where the fire occurred reportedly is one of the original structures relocated to the Santa Maria airport from the site of Hancock College of Aeronautics several decades ago. 

Coastal Valley Aviation performs maintenance and inspections on single- and twin-engine aircraft at the airport, and has been in business since 1999.

— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.