The Home Depot in Goleta was evacuated briefly Saturday afternoon after a fire broke out in a large steel container behind the store, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Firefighters were dispatched shortly after 4 p.m. to the store at 6975 Marketplace Drive in Camino Real Marketplace, Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason said.
He said crews from nearby Station 11 could see smoke billowing up behind the building.
The fire broke out inside a large roll-off trash compactor/container that was near one of the store’s rollup metal doors, Eliason said.
Home Depot employees were able to use a forklift to push the container away from the building before firefighters arrived, he said.
No flames reached the building, but some smoke did get inside, and the structure was evacuated for a time as a precaution, Eliason said.
No injuries were reported.
A fire investigator and arson K-9 were called in, but Eliason said they were not able to determine the cause of the blaze.
Two engines, a ladder truck, a rescue ambulance and battalion chief responded to the fire.
— 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.