Santa Ynez Man Convicted of ‘Unlawfully Causing’ Caballo Fire in 2021

Steven Randall Nicholas, 63, Found Guilty of Causing 70-Acre Fire by Using Mag Torch to Burn Weeds on His Property Without Permit

The Caballo Fire burned 70 acres from September 6 to 8, 2021, in Los Olivos before it was contained. | Credit: Mike Eliason/S.B. County Fire

Santa Ynez resident Steven Randall Nicholas, 63, was convicted this Wednesday for unlawfully causing the Caballo Fire in 2021, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced this Thursday.

The fire broke out the afternoon of September 6, 2021, on Nicholas’s property on Avenida Caballo northeast of Los Olivos. According to the DA’s Office, fire investigators determined that Nicholas “was using a Mag torch to burn weeds on his property … without a burn permit” in 96-degree heat and 22 percent humidity when the “small burn became uncontrolled and burned 70 acres of forest land, encompassing 14 different properties in the Santa Ynez Valley.”

The fire prompted emergency evacuations and warnings for residents in the area. According to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, four fixed-wing air tankers and a helicopter were called in to defend the threatened structures, and one barn on Avenida Caballo was damaged.

One barn on Avenida Caballo was damaged by the Caballo Fire near Los Olivos over Labor Day weekend in 2021. | Credit: Santa Barbara County Fire Department

Following a one-week trial in Santa Maria, a jury found Nicholas guilty on Wednesday of one felony charge of unlawfully causing a fire. He now faces three years in state prison.

“Thank you to DDA Madison Whitmore who led the prosecution team,” DA John Savrnoch said in Thursday’s statement, “as well as Captain Snodgrass, Investigator MacCready and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department for a thorough investigation into this wildland fire.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Steven Randall Nicholas was convicted of arson. While the DA’s statement on Steven Randall Nicholas’s conviction referred to him as an “arsonist,” Nicholas was officially charged with “unlawfully causing a fire” not arson.