Reported transformer fire causes outages in Santa Barbara

A late Thursday afternoon fire atop a power pole shut down parts of Gutierrez and Laguna streets in Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara City firefighters were called out to reports of a transformer fire at 4:30 p.m.

Officers with the Santa Barbara Police Department are assisting with road closures. All businesses in the area were evacuated, according to Santa Barbara City Fire Capt. Steve Berman.

Berman said when firefighters arrived on scene, there was an active fire on two of the insulators forming what’s called a “junction.” He said while the incident was reported as a transformer fire, it’s actually not. The junction fire is located above the transformer.

The fire resulted in several outages to parts of the city.

Crews were concerned the pole could fall down.

One SoCal Edison crew member de-energized the pole by using a computer.

Another SoCal Edison crew used a large truck with a remote controlled arm to get up high enough to the squirt ionized water on the small flame.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

@KEYTNC3 Transformer on fire at Laguna & Gutierrez in Santa Barbara. pic.twitter.com/M4jwpz8WlU

— Raider Ron (@R8erRon) June 29, 2017