Firefighters battle two-story house fire near Goleta

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to a structure fire on the 500 block of Ripley Street in the unincorporated area of Goleta around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

The first engines that arrived on scene reported heavy smoke coming from the rear of a two-story, single-family home.

Firefighters said the house has a wood frame structure and large wooden deck and patio which only added to the fire.

The crew decided to enter the house through the front door to try and keep the flames from spreading to the rest of the home while attacking the fire on the outside of the back of the home.

County Fire said the fire's intense heat caused the rear windows of the house to melt, giving the flames access to the up and downstairs rooms.

All four occupants of the home were evacuated by fire crews and were uninjured. In an abundance of caution, firefighters decided to evacuate several of the nearby homes.

After a 30 minute battle, the fire was finally knocked down. Firefighters stayed on the scene afterwards to make sure the fire had not spread anywhere and that it really was extinguished. They also worked to help salvage any of the contents of the home that they could.

The Red Cross responded to assist the displaced family.

SB County Fire wants to make an important note that a car on the street delayed their response to the fire by parking in front of a fire hydrant. Firefighters chose not to damage the car, but said it took them extra time to attach their supply line to the hydrant in order to start battling the fire.

An investigator was called to the scene to figure out the cause of the fire.