Fire officials investigating ‘suspicious’ house fire in Carpinteria

Residents in the Nipomo Drive Carpinteria neighborhood were allowed to return to their homes the day after firefighters from several agencies mounted an aggressive attack to put out a house fire there.

Crews responded to reports of a house fully engulfed in flames at about 9:30 p.m. July 2 on the 4900 block of Nipomo Drive. Firefighters said neighbors had to be evacuated for their own safety.

Officials said a gas main was found to be destroyed and power lines were down in the area when firefighters arrived. The gas line was shut off and will remain off until repair crews can fix it.

Investigators are treating this fire as suspicious and are on the look-out for four people seen leaving the burning house.

Neighbors said they saw the fire and called 911 after smelling smoke. Another neighbor heard an explosion that sounded like fireworks before getting an alert on his phone.

Firefighters from Carpinteria, Montecito, Santa Barbara and Ventura used oxygen masks to protect themselves while working to put the fire out.

They used chainsaws to cut openings to let the smoke get out. They also took time to take some personal belongings out of the burning house.

Neighbors said they saw the homeowner picked up her mail recently but they were not sure if she was living at the house.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.