Tree fire extinguished near railroad tracks in Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Santa Barbara City firefighters made quick work of a small fire that cropped up near the railroad tracks off Garden Street Monday evening.

Mulitple 911 calls were made by residents saying they could see smoke and flames from the 101 freeway around 7:25 p.m.

When fire crews arrived at the scene, they reported finding multiple trees burning against a building along the railroad tracks in the area of Cabrillo Boulevard and Garden Street.

Firefighters quickly contained and extinguished the flames. Once the fire died, crews sprayed foam on the burned trees to prevent another fire from igniting due to highly flammable materials in a nearby junkyard.

Due to high amounts of activity in the area over recent days, City Fire called investigators to the scene immediately to determine the cause of the burn.

Eye witnesses told investigators that there had been a group of people hanging out in the area about one hour before the fire broke out.

“They’ve determined that the area that the fire was involved with tonight was an area that had some folks about an hour previously from eyewitnesses in the area,” said Santa Barbara City Fire Battalion Chief Mike Deponce.

The specific cause of the fire is still under investigation.