Person rescued from Santa Barbara structure fire
Santa Barbara City Fire Department rescued an unnamed individual from a structure fire in the 500 block of West Canon Perdido Street Friday morning around 11 a.m.
The fire department responded to the report of a fire and a potential victim with three fire engines, one truck company and a Battalion Chief, according to Kevin Corbett, the public information officer for the department.
Firefighters found a “working fire” and “made an aggressive interior attack” while locating the resident. The person was transported to awaiting paramedics and taken to a local hospital with the help of Santa Barbara Police officers. The individual’s condition was not immediately known as of Friday evening.
Firefighters did not find any additional victims and were able to get the fire under control “within minutes,” said Corbett.
The fire did not extend to any nearby homes and no firefighters were injured, according to Corbett.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but damages are estimated at about $7,500.
Firefighters tackle large mulch fire at Tajiguas landfill
After a fire broke out at the Tajiguas landfill Thursday, heavy equipment was used to sort piles in order to aid the firefighting effort.
Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to a large mulch pile fire at the Tajiguas landfill on the Gaviota Coast Thursday.
About half of an acre of mulch and recyclables and 1.5 acres of nearby vegetation caught fire, reported Mike Eliason, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department public information officer.
Heavy equipment was used to sort piles to aid firefighters in extinguishing the fire, Eliason said. A Copter 964 was also used to drop water on the fire at the landfill.
Call time for the fire was reported as shortly before 6:30 p.m.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office finds skimming device in Moorpark
A skimming device, which is placed illegally on things like point-of-sale machines to steal data or money, was found at a 7-Eleven store in Moorpark last month, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said.
The office’s Government Fraud Unit was alerted since one card skimmed was an electronic benefits card used for welfare benefits. Ventura County lost about $22,000 through welfare EBT skimming from May 1-3, the office said.
The District Attorney’s Office compiled a list of things to look for to be aware of possible skimming devices:
– Labels on a machine indicating a chip reader is broken
— Chip reader function directs user to swipe card
— Sides of a device shift, lift or appear bulky
— Point-of-sale machine appears unnecessarily worn or doesn’t match other nearby machines
The most secure point-of-sale transitions allow for chipped cards, tapped cards or app-based pay systems like Apple Pay or Google Pay, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
– Kaitlyn Schallhorn
