Residents and Firefighters Battle Another Santa Barbara Fire

Residents with garden hoses attacked flames on a hillside Tuesday evening as fire crews raced to the scene on Loma Alta Drive for the second time in two days. Investigators say the fires have been deliberately set.Santa Barbara City Fire Marshall Joe Poire says he has found no sign of cooking fires in the area or downed power lines, and that leads him to believe someone intentionally started the fires. The largest of the two fires was Monday night on Loma Alta near Coronel Street. It burned dangerously close to homes on TV Hill before firefighters doused it with water.Tuesday night a fire broke out down the street in a brushy location behind a home where resident Leonel Davila said he has had to tell trespassers to stay off the hill that leads to his backyard. Davila says in the past he has seen small fires there. Tuesday night’s fire was scary, “and the kids, they was crying,” said Davila. He fought the flames with a garden hose until fire crews arrived, but he admitted, “my legs was shaking. It was close!”Poire says information from the public about the fires is still very helpful. “A lot of times people don’t think they have information that’s important for us because they think their information is too small or it’s already been reported and in fact it may be something we really need,” said Poire.KEYT News Channel Three Senior Reporter John Palminteri has been following the story and has the latest update.