Update: 12:28 p.m., May 31, 2017
Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to a report of a brush fire at 10:59 a.m. to Highway 101 southbound, just north of the SR-154 off ramp in Buellton.
Crews arrived on scene and found two acres of grass and light brush burning off the highway near the southbound lane. Smoke was blowing across the highway which caused a temporary closure by California Highway Patrol, reports SBC Fire Captain Dave Zaniboni. The Highway is currently open with the number two lane closed in the fire area.
Fire crews were able to surround and contain the brush fire within 45 minutes, said Zaniboni. It is now fully contained and estimated to have reached 6.4 acres. The cause was determined to be a truck towing a trailer that had lost a wheel, causing sparks to ignite the grass along the freeway, said Zaniboni.
There were no injuries or structures threatened. Crews will be on the scene for the next few hours to mop up. Traffic is expected to be slowed in the area.
VegFire-Ramp Incident- SBC working on small fire along Hwy101/jno Hwy154. CT-1100 pic.twitter.com/pLv4bOqRl8
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) May 31, 2017
Original Report
11:05 a.m., May 31, 2017
A small brush fire has broken out near Highway 101 and SR-154 in Buellton.
Reports came in about the fire just before 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday with visible smoke seen from SR-154 and Grand Ave. The number two lane of Highway 101 southbound has been shut down by Caltrans.
Edhat will update this article with more information as it becomes available.