Santa Barbara County Fire crews douse structure fire near Santa Maria

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Santa Barbara County Fire crews quickly extinguished a structure fire that was sending black smoke into the sky near Santa Maria on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

The fire was reported just after 4:40 p.m. at a roughly 5,000-square-foot building located on the 2100 block of Sinton Road near Santa Maria, according to Capt. Scott Safechuck.

Black smoke was seen coming from the building, Safechuck said, adding that it was a possible exterior fire that was extending into the building.

Everyone was reported to be out of the structure, and teams were able to extinguish the fire within 5-10 minutes, according to the fire department.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but firefighters believe that it may have been a piece of machinery that started the fire.