Firefighters handle several house fires

By ERIC LINDBERG — May 27, 2010

A malfunctioning refrigerator is believed to have sparked a kitchen fire that damaged a Mesa apartment on Tuesday evening.

At 7:15 p.m., city firefighters received reports of smoke in an apartment on Oceano Avenue and arrived to find flames burning in a second-story unit. Crews extinguished the fire within 10 minutes and determined it started in the kitchen.

Fire officials said the cause is officially classified as accidental, but likely resulted from a refrigerator malfunction.

“There were no injuries as a result of the fire; however, an occupant was transported to the hospital with a complaint of chest pain after exiting the apartment,” according to a Santa Barbara City Fire Department news release.

Fire officials urged local residents to check old appliances for signs of potential malfunction.

Early yesterday afternoon, firefighters headed out to another reported structure fire in the 1200 block of Calle Cerrito Alto. Callers reported seeing smoke pouring from beneath a single-family home just after 2 p.m. Fire crews arrived to find flames burning in a crawl space outside the home.

“The resident was trying to attack the fire with a garden hose,” said Ryan DiGuilio, a city fire inspector.

Firefighters doused the small blaze with water from a fire hose. Officials said no injuries were reported, and the cause remains under investigation. The fire caused moderate damage to the crawl space, while the interior of the home sustained minimal smoke damage