Firefighters battle a vegetation fire that broke out Friday afternoon along Highway 101 in Goleta. The blaze prompted the shutdown of the northbound freeway lanes and the adjacent Calle Real. 
Firefighters battle a vegetation fire that broke out Friday afternoon along Highway 101 in Goleta. The blaze prompted the shutdown of the northbound freeway lanes and the adjacent Calle Real. 
Large flames consume trees along Highway 101 in Goleta on Friday afternoon. The blaze prompted the shutdown of the northbound freeway lanes and the adjacent Calle Real. 
A firefighter douses flames in a homeless encampment in Goleta where a vegetation fire was believed to have started Friday afternoon. 
Firefighters battle a vegetation fire that broke out Friday afternoon along Highway 101 in Goleta. The blaze prompted the shutdown of the northbound freeway lanes and the adjacent Calle Real. 
Firefighters battle a vegetation fire that broke out Friday afternoon along Highway 101 in Goleta. 
Smoke from the vegetation fire burning along Highway 101 in Goleta is visible from across the Santa Barbara Airport.
Santa Barbara County firefighters responded Friday afternoon to a vegetation fire burning along Highway 101 in Goleta.
The blaze, between the freeway and Calle Real, was reported shortly before 4 p.m. in the area between Patterson Avenue and Kellogg Avenue, according to fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli.
Northbound Highway 101 and Calle Real were shut down for several hours in the area while crews battled the fire, which put up a large plume of smoke that was visible throughout the South Coast.
The fire appeared to have started in a homeless encampment in the area, Bertucelli said, adding that an inspector was dispatched to the scene to search for the cause.
Although the fire seemed mostly out earlier in the afternoon, a second fire broke out later 100 to 200 yards from the original location, Bertucelli said.
At about 5:45 p.m., the incident commander requested three additional engines — including one from the City of Santa Barbara and one from the Montecito Fire Protection District — to assist with the incident.
There also was a report of a woman who was injured in another encampment on the south side of the freeway in the same area, Bertucelli said, but it was not clear whether that was related to the fire.
He added that there was some spotting of flames across to the south side of Highway 101.
No other injuries were reported, and no structures were threatened by the fire.
Crews were expected to remain on scene well into the evening, and possibly overnight, Bertucelli said.
The Santa Barbara Humane Society announced at about 6:35 p.m. that it was moving all of the animals out of its shelter on Overpass Road on the south side of Highway 101.
“Out of an abundance of caution, all animals will be moved for the night to the Santa Maria campus,” the Humane Society said in an email.
“The staff expects that the fire will be contained tonight, and the animals will be able to be transported back to the Santa Barbara campus in the morning. Please check the website www.sbhumane.org and social media for updates and any delays in operations.”
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— 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.
