Edhat Staff
(Photos: Santa Barbara County Fire Department)
By edhat staff
Santa Barbara County firefighters extinguished a large fire at a homeless encampment between Elwood Station Road and Highway 101 in Goleta Tuesday morning.
At 6:25 a.m., fire crews responded to the area for a report of a structure fire. Upon arrival they discovered the camp fully involved in fire putting up a lot of thick black smoke between the railroad tracks and freeway, reports Captain Dave Zaniboni.
A makeshift structure was burning in the brush and caught nearby trees on fire, as well as surrounding belongings. Crews knocked down the fire quickly and are on scene mopping up the area.
It’s unknown how the fire started. There were no injuries reported and the railroad tracks and freeway is open.
A few weeks ago someone trolled me and said “Goleta and Carp don’t put up with this sort of thing. like Santa Barbara does.” I’ve been writing stuff like that ever since..
No soylient green stews the N.C.
Thanks GOP for keeping them homeless during freezing weather. Thanks GOP for putting mentally ill on the street
@GENERALTREE
Ummm, hate to break the news to you, but CA has been a Democratic State for a hell of a long time as has local politics…
This is just plain unacceptable. Where is zoning, Union Pacific reps (their property) cops…?
There is a nice warming fire. I read somewhere else a guy got a ticket for trespassing.
shades of mental illness.
Unfortunately we put more money into protecting the Snow Plover than we do addressing our homeless issue.
I doubt that this is true. Please cite your sources for this assertion.
Well the county fire department just spent a bit more addressing the homeless issue. Your tax dollars at work.
The homeless camps along the 101 in Goleta are well known yet ignored by authorities. How many times does this have to happen before they are cleared out? The camps are an eyesore as you drive by, yet nobody does anything until they start fires. The county is more concerned about the type of straw I use in my morning coffee than they are with the real issues. SMDH.
This was near a mobile home community and could have spread and injured or killed families sleeping in their beds! It is time to put an end to allowing these. You can’t fine them, so just kick them out and clean it up. Please!
It’s freezing outside.
Not an excuse to risk other people’s lives.
Will at least they saved the tent so this was in Goleta where they don’t put up with this sort of thing…..Huh…
FACTOTUM: Those who fall upon hard times and can’t find work, or are homeless for ANY reason, you warn “Get out of SB” like some Clint Eastwood cowboy from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. You’re the last two.
Santa Maria farm labor is paying up $20 an hour, and there is a shortage of workers. There is no excuse for anyone to live in the bushes anywhere Santa Barbara County. No more excuses.
Between Montecito and Goleta, there are dozens on encampments. Just take the train some time. Why they are allowed to set up these permanent encampments both on Union Pacific property and in the 101 easements is beyond me. They are trespassing on private and public property. I wouldn’t be allowed to walk across these areas. And then they are allowed to panhandle at all the on/off ramps, often walking right down the ramps. You report them and the police give you the run around. They send you to CHP who then tell you they don’t have funding. Nonsense. Give the occupants a few days’ notice to pack up and then get in there and clear it all out. Didn’t they just do that in Lompoc?
Roger – what do you mean? There are tons of encampments like this in Goleta, so Goleta pretty clearly does “put up with this sort of thing.”
He’s referring to people who complain about the homeless population in Santa Barbara, and those who claim that Goleta dosen’t allow it to happen there.
Being homeless is one thing being a homeless hoard is another.
@Coastwatch, hate to break it to you but Ronald Reagan did have a ranch in Santa Ynez – but California has nothing to do with his shameful legacy of with the homeless and mentally ill.
Ronald Reagan has an extremely shameful legacy when it comes to the homeless and the mentally ill.
If you live near one of these, document with photos and make call to police and get case number of your complaint. You’ll be ready for a lawsuit if a encampment fire is started and your property is damaged. In L.A. “A Bel-Air synagogue is suing the city and county of Los Angeles over last year’s Skirball fire, saying they failed to clear the homeless encampment where the blaze started. The temple lists four causes of action, including claims that the city and county maintained a dangerous condition on public property and allowed a public nuisance. It is seeking more than $25,000 in damages. The encampment was nestled in a canyon several hundred feet from Sepulveda Boulevard and the 405 Freeway, hidden from passing cars. Officials have said it was home to an unknown number of people for several years.” https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-skirball-fire-lawsuit-20180823-story.html
For all the comments along the lines of “kick them out because of the fire” ….how about kicking out the EDISON company…..after all, they are responsible for fires burning down LOTS and LOTS of houses.
Drug syringes in foreground of photo. How many dogs have stepped on those. Do dogs get hepatitis and AIDS? And other issues, such as tuberculosis, “75% of canine cases are caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is most commonly transmitted by infected humans to animals.” These encampments, dogs included, are a health emergency for all of us, people and animals.
Home sellers should be forced to disclose any encampments nearby. Insurance companies should require nearby encampments (obvious fire danger) be removed before insuring a home. A friend’s insurance was temporarily cancelled because a tall tree had branches over the house. The insurance company insisted the tree branches be cut before reinstating the insurance. Limiting risk.
Nature boy, according to both police and CHP, panhandling on the off/on ramps is illegal (and dangerous). If they walk down the ramps, they can be reported. If they interfere with traffic, they can be reported. If they obstruct a sidewalk or the pedestrian right of way, they can be reported. If they are defecating or urinating in public, they should be reported. Now, if anything is done is the other issue. And, NB, save the snark….. I am not your ‘love’.
Good thing we weren’t having a Santa Anna and that the ground is currently soaked not waving in dry weeds.
Although I totally agree that these camps need to be cleared out this case is a little different. The man who’s structure burned was cited for illegal burning. He was trapped inside by flames and had to cut his way out. He was previously a paint contractor and currently doing enough contracting work to get by. He lost not only his warm clothes, work boots and new cell phone but also his last paycheck. Everyone else ran but he felt guilty and stayed to cooperate with authorities thereby being cited.
The few GOP left in this state can be found holding a sign Will Vote for Food. Everything this state has become has been done on the Democrat watch, and even RINO Schwarzenegger betrayed any conservative principles at the first blush of opposition. Nope, clearly this state took a wrong turn after the year 2000 and the Democrats and their government union handmaidens are now harvesting what they has sown. The massive amount of public pension debt and Democrat legislative lock run up since the year 2000 means there is no longer a turnaround point. What do you think will happen to this state over the next 20 years of Democrat control? Two years camping out by the RR tracks in a large cluster of vagrants is just one picture of California that has now emerged statewide during this Democrat reign.
And Reagan put the mentally I’ll on the street in California and all 49 other states.
SOCALMOMMY doesn’t realize that what she perceives as an “eyesore” (oh NO – do your eyes hurt from glancing at the less fortunate while you zoom along the freeway?) is a symptom rather than a problem. Also, the rate of homeless camp fires is lower than the rate of domestic household fires, according to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association).
“The camps are an eyesore as you drive by.” ~~ I couldn’t imagine a better sound-byte.