Fire crews control a small vegetation fire near a Carpinteria hiking trail
CARPINTERIA, Calif. – The U.S. Forest Service, Carpinteria-Summerland Fire crews, Montecito fire and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to a small vegetation fire in the foothills above Foothill Road in Carpinteria Wednesday afternoon about 12:30.
The fire was described as having "wispy smoke" and a half an acre in size. It had more smoke than flames and was adjacent to power lines.
The U. S. Forest Service with crews from the Los Padres National Forest took the lead and went into the hills above Carpinteria High School by way of an access road.
#FranklinIncident: Reported 1/2 acre vegetation fire adjacent to power lines in the US Forrest jurisdiction above Carpinteria High School. No visible flames noted, active smoke from the burn area, SBC ASU Copt 3 actively dropping water. Ground crews working to make access. pic.twitter.com/SdY1i9v2WH
— Scott Safechuck (@SBCFireInfo) July 12, 2023
The site had light grass and it was also the location of the 2017 Thomas Fire, which meant there wasn't a lot of old growth.
Responding crews constructed containment lines with hand tools and chainsaws.
Helicopters made a few water drops to help with the fast attack.
An Edison crew came to the scene to investigate the cause of the fire along with investigators from the forest service and other agencies.
No homes were threatened. It is not known if anyone was on the hiking trail in the area.
For the most part the fire was behind a hill and not visible to the main population of Carpinteria.
