Fire officials seek public’s help into investigation of the Holiday Fire

A team of 11 investigators from Santa Barbara County and Cal Fire are working to find the cause of the Holiday Fire that burned 13 homes and damaged others near Goleta.

Santa Barbara County Public Information Officer Mike Eliason said they won’t speculate.

“We have a pretty good idea of what the cause was, our investigators are pretty confident, but they want to make sure,” said Eliason.

Even Eliason needs to be patient.

“I don’t even know what the cause is,” said Eliason. “This is more of a law enforcement side of the fire agency verses firefighting, they are using scientific methods, combing over every bit of evidence trying to make sure it is correct and that can take awhile, they work to get it right.”

Only residents are allowed in the taped off areas.

Investigators are asking the public to share their videos, photos, and tips. They plan to wrap up their fieldwork in a couple of days and do witness interviews in the coming weeks. Anyone with information is urged to send it to fireinfo@sbcfire.com

Eliason said they want to explore every bit of evidence before they finish their Holiday Fire report.