No Injuries in Goleta Residence Fire
Blazed Blamed on Improper Disposal of Smoking Paraphernalia
No one was injured in Friday’s residential structure fire at a 5560 Somerset Drive, near Princeton and North Kellogg avenues in Goleta. Santa Barbara County Fire responded just before noon to the fire with four engine companies and one ladder truck, according to information from Fire Captain Eli Iskow, and arrived to find smoke coming from the attic. One person who was in the house at the time of the fire got out safely, and the fire was contained by firefighters to a bedroom, hallway, and a small area of the attic. The fire was fully under control within 30 minutes.
The cause of the fire, which damaged roughly $25,000 in property, was announced last night as human-caused, as a result of “reckless disposal of smoking materials.” In a press release, Iskow noted that cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and the like are the leading cause of fire deaths in the U.S., responsible for one in every five deaths that occurred as a result of fires in 2005.