Full containment was declared Monday for a vegetation fire that broke out the previous night east of Highway 154 near Santa Barbara.
The blaze blackened just over 8 acres before firefighters were able to stop the forward progress of the flames, according to Mike Eliason, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
The fire broke out shortly before 7 p.m. between Via Gaitero and Cieneguitas Road, near the San Marcos Foothill Preserve and the “Bridge to Nowhere,” and the original dispatch report described the incident as a couch fire, Eliason said.
“The fire is 100% contained, and crews continue to root out stubborn hot spots in the interior areas of dense vegetation,” he added.
Evacuations were ordered for residents in homes along Cieneguitas Road and Cocopah Road, but those were later reduced to warnings. The warnings expired at midnight.
No structures were damaged and no injuries were reported in the fire.
Highway 154 in the area was closed down for a time, but subsequently reopened.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation on Monday.
Eliason also noted that a drone was spotted flying over the fire Sunday night, which “is illegal and extremely dangerous for firefighters in the air and on the ground.”
Anyone caught flying a drone over a wildfire will be prosecuted, he added.
The drone was not in use by the time aerial tankers and helicopters arrived at the fire, he said.
— 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.