Man dies hours after moped collision
SANTA BARBARA — A 53-year-old male died hours after falling off his moped during a collision in the 900 block of Hope Avenue.
The man and his friend were both riding mopeds around midnight and collided, according to a police investigation. They fell from their mopeds and landed on the road, seemingly uninjured.
The two remounted their vehicles and rode to a friend’s house, where the man started to experience chest pains and went home.
At home, his condition quickly deteriorated. Around 2 a.m., the Santa Barbara Police Combined Communications Center received a call that a 53-year-old male collapsed in his bathroom at a residence in Broadmoor Plaza.
The dispatcher instructed the reporting party over the phone while American Medical Response paramedics and the Santa Barbara City Fire Department drove to the residence.
Paramedics conducted CPR on the man, but he was declared deceased at the scene.
The incident is under investigation. The decedent’s name is withheld pending notification of next of kin.
— Annelise Hanshaw
Family displaced after residence fire
LOMPOC — The American Red Cross is assisting a family of seven after their home caught fire Saturday evening.
Smoke and flames were reported coming from a home in the 900 block of E Pine Avenue around 5:45 p.m. Saturday. Heavy smoke could be seen from blocks away.
Crews from Lompoc Fire Department, Santa Barbara County Fire and Vandenberg Space Force Base Fire departments responded alongside medical assistance from American Medical Response and Calstar.
The family initially thought a child remained inside the house, and crews quickly searched the home. They were relieved to find all had evacuated.
The crew attacked the flames from the interior and exterior. The outside personnel protected neighboring homes from the fire.
Inside, firefighters worked to knock down the fire, and a ventilation crew on the roof cut a hole to let the smoke out of the home.
The fire was controlled in approximately 20 minutes.
One person was injured outside, and two cats died in the fire.
The damage did not extend to neighbors’ homes.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
— Annelise Hanshaw
