Vehicle Fire with Burn Victim
updated: Feb 25, 2013, 12:28 PM

Source: Santa Barbara County Fire Department

At approximately 10:50am this date, Santa Barbara City Fire Combined Communications Center received multiple reports of a vehicle fire at 1301 Santa Teresita Drive. En route to the incident, Engine 5 requested aid from Santa Barbara County Engine 15 based in Mission Canyon. Upon arrival of SBFD Engine 5, they found a minivan fully engulfed in fire with extension to an Edison power pole and adjacent bushes. E5 extended a pre-connected hoseline and conducted a rapid and aggressive knockdown of the fire. The fire was quickly knocked down and firefighters began the overhaul phase of the incident.

At approximately 11:03 hours, an adult female and 4-year old child exited a single family dwelling located at 1301 Santa Teresita Drive. It was quickly obvious that the child had sustained burn injuries presumably from the vehicle fire. The adult female also sustained burns. An ambulance was immediately requested. At this point, there is conflicting information regarding how the injuries were sustained. SBFD immediately requested response from a fire investigator and Santa Barbara Police Department.

A law enforcement and fire investigation is continuing. Contact SBPD for incident followup.

UPDATED: Smoke showing from Las Positas. Van on fire with a 4-year-old child burn victim. [pics] (02/26/13)

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Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

ROGER DODGER	2013-02-25 12:39 PM
Glad she wasn't inside of the van for the duration of the fire.
YIN YANG	2013-02-25 12:56 PM
Not to belittle the incident, but Roger, I totally agree. It could have been so much worse. Poor kid! Get well soon! According to public news release, it took mom/parent/guardian THIRTEEN or so minutes to bring the kid to firemen?! Well, 13 minutes from first call. I'd be on the phone to 911 asking for an ambulance... I won't blame (yet); I don't know, none of us do. The victims could've been hiding from someone. Sad situation.
COMMENT 378520	2013-02-25 12:58 PM
I'm thinking there's more to this story to be uncovered. Thirteen minutes is a long time to bring a burned child to medical help, and a long time for a little kid to suffer. I hope the investigation gets to the bottom of what happened here.
COMMENT 378521P	2013-02-25 12:59 PM
Fire was REPORTED at 10:50 AM. That's not the time of arrival, right? At 11:03, presumably when SBFD might have arrived, the mother (burned herself) came out of a neighboring house with the burned child. It's feasible that they were both injured and the mom grabbed the child, ran to the neighbor's house, and made the call to 911. Don't jump to conclusions, people. We don't have all the facts in yet...
COMMENT 378526	2013-02-25 01:03 PM
Is this any where near there was smoke before 9am? I assumed it was a control burn but it was in the same general area.
YIN YANG	2013-02-25 01:05 PM
I agree, 521. I stated so in my post. See the last 3 sentences. No argument here; hope you read before posting. Indeed it's possible that the parent or guardian did not even have a phone. Can I quote myself? "Well, 13 minutes from first call. I'd be on the phone to 911 asking for an ambulance... I won't blame (yet); I don't know, none of us do. The victims could've been hiding from someone. Sad situation. "
YIN YANG	2013-02-25 01:09 PM
I apologize for being judgmental; I should not have posted what I did. I'm being an "armchair quarterback." And doing what I so often dislike about Edhat. sorry.
COMMENT 378539P	2013-02-25 01:38 PM
I hope some caller said someone was burned. I hope the best for the little girl.
COMMENT 378555	2013-02-25 02:31 PM
539P: That may have been where the confusion came from. Mom & kid got out, went to the closest neighbor who said they already called 911. Neighbor may have just stated there was an accident/car engulfed in flames when they called, mom assumed an ambulance would be sent (aren't they usually when there's a car accident?), then the firefighters had to call for it (or the firefighters got there before the ambulance did). Tons of speculation there, but just some examples of what might have happened. I've not called 911 before because other people said they had already done so - but I don't know what they said when they called, and just assumed they've reported properly & all personnel that should show up would know. Not unreasonable at all. Not to mention this is crazy traumatic for a parent, anyway, and that alone can take it's toll. Really hope the kids ok.
ROGER DODGER	2013-02-25 02:32 PM
Fire was dispatched only Engines 5 and 15..
COMMENT 378609	2013-02-25 04:49 PM
Ambulances aren't routinely dispatched to reported vehicle fires unless the dispatcher is told that an ambulance is necessary. The piece indicates there were several parties calling to report the car fire, but I don't read anywhere that any of the callers said an ambulance was needed. The sentence "an ambulance was immediately requested" sounds like it was the responding fire crew who arrived at the scene and then immediately called for an ambulance after they learned there were injuries. If so, that's a long time for a little kid to be suffering from burns without medical treatment. The authorities have launched an investigation. I truly hope they get to the bottom of what happened.
COMMENT 378621	2013-02-25 05:13 PM
KEYT news is reporting 2 year old was lest in the vehicle while the mother was in a clients house. Was there a 4 year old also? I hope she wasn't leaving the 2 year old in the car while cleaning the house.
COMMENT 378770	2013-02-26 08:29 AM
@ 621 I've seen this a lot around SB - kids in car, no adult in sight. What can they possibly be thinking? By the same token, I see very young children playing right by the roadside, curb, intersection, no adult nearby with alarming frequency around town. Please, if you see children placed in danger call 911 immediately. You could save a life

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