Roger
Photos: Santa Barbara City Fire Department
Update by edhat staff
Santa Barbara City firefighters responded to the 300 block of Junipero Plaza, between Garden and Laguna Streets, around 8:30 p.m. Thursday for a reported structure fire.
Upon arrival, crews discovered a three-story home engulfed in flames and heavy black smoke. The occupants, a family of five, were home eating dinner in the backyard at the time of the fire and all were able to safely exit.
It took firefighters approximately two hours to control the fire that dominated the majority of the home.
The historic home was built in 1904 and experienced another fire approximately 20 years ago.
There were no injuries and investigators are on the scene determining the cause of the fire.
STRUCTURE FIRE -JUNIPERO PLAZA Santa Barbara. Just down from the Mission. Everyone out of the house but major working fire. The home is over 100 years old. It also had a fire about 20 yrs ago (Correcting previous address) pic.twitter.com/fvxDjEQihd
— John Palminteri (@JohnPalminteri) June 12, 2020
Structure fire on Junipero Plaza between Garden and Laguna.
PD for traffic control working fire.
Sounds like a big fire asking for county coverage of city stations..More cops for traffic control…
It was my back neighbor one house East. I was on my garage with a hose on my hedge and on my neighbor’s hedge. The smoke, flames, and sparks were blowing north, away from us. I saw the entire second story engulfed with flames. I kept hearing windows shatter from the heat. Once the fire department got hoses on it they knocked it down fast. Radiant heat did not ignite anything else from my vantage point. That house is generally vacant so no one was likely to have gotten hurt. A neighbor yelled fire in our front door to alert us.
I was in a good position to take photos, but that was the last thing on my mind. My immediate neighbors are elderly, and I was doing my best to get water on the hedge. If the hedge ignited, then many homes would have been at risk starting with theirs. I might take a photo tomorrow when it’s light.
This is a 3-story house. Firefighters are actively ventilating attacking the fire right now. House appears to be fully involved in fire.
That house was on fire about 20 yrs ago too… Workers were redoing the floors and left linseed oil rags all over the place.
You guys reported it not I just heard it and posted… Thanks for the info sorry for your neighbors..
The flames coming out the upper story windows must have been 20’ tall. I went up on the garage a second time and I could see the FD in the upper story mopping up because of all the flashlights. I could also see orange glow in the attic through the vent directly above them.
Glad you are safe and your neighbors. Thanks for your efforts. The smoke was visible all over town. So close to the Mission I thought it was on fire. That’s all we need in 2020. Be safe
CW: Yes. My neighbors said this was the second time that house burned. We moved to this house in 1995, and they said that fire happened before then.
Noozhawk has a piece on it already. The photo of the flames with the patio furniture is what I saw. https://www.noozhawk.com/article/firefighters_battle_raging_fire_in_large_home_near_santa_barbara_mission
Thank goodness no wind tonight. We live less than five blocks southeast of this location and never heard a single siren. Not one. Can’t believe it. Smelled a tiny bit of smoke at around 8:30 p.m. but thought maybe someone nearby was having a late barbecue using wood. What breeze there was, if any, must have been fully northeast, blowing smoke toward State and Constance. 1:00 a.m. and breeze now is blowing westerly a bit. We can smell only a little smoke. Sure feel for this family. *** Such a lovely old house. Glad everyone (and dog) is okay.*** ———–Thank you, firefighters. (Noozhawk has much more detailed photos and video of fire.)
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic home.
Really.
Soon enough people will start demanding that the statues and other historical artifacts at the Mission be removed due to the enslavement of the Chumash people. Perhaps someone will try to burn down the mission–after all, it was a horrible period in our local history. Let’s erase it!
@Schifter – that is completely off topic but sure I’ll bite. Based on the atrocities the catholic church has committed (and continues to commit) I would be fine if all junipero serra statues were removed. Personally I don’t feel the mission should be burned, but they should make adequate reparations to those they’ve harmed. The least they could do is apologize and install a plaque and memorial to all the lives that were lost on that land due to their conquering. But that would mean the catholic church would need to admit guilt, which they never do.
SCHIFTER–how about just educating people? The Catholic church has a very long way to go to educating people about what they did to native peoples in the Americas. The accounts of the church sanctioned torture and murder (written by priests of the day) of so many people are so horrifying that I found it literally stomach turning to read them.
I’m very sorry to hear about the loss/damage to this beautiful old home, I’m glad that no people or animals were injured.
This is all so off topic and soon to be deleted. But, it would make a good thread for discussion. The Mission also has, and continues to harbor known abusers and sex offenders, and to conceal records of its abuses avoiding prosecution for years of institutionalized criminal behavior on its premises. I think the Catholic Church should surrender the mission and its assets to the City to be come a multi-cultural education center and museum of the the symbols and painful relics of our history.
Wow! Second time? I hope this beautiful house can be restored to it’s original glory.
Really ? All city fire engines where there and many police. I heard tons of sirens and immediately smelled the smoke as others did. You could see the huge plume of smoke from many areas in town.