Fire strikes at Andersen’s Pea Soup
Firefighters respond to a blaze at Pea Soup Andersen’s in Buellton.
BUELLTON — Firefighters responded to a late-night structure fire Sunday night at Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said Monday.
Flames were seen by a passerby who called 9-1-1, fire officials said.
SBC firefighters responded around 11:40 p.m. to the restaurant, and they confined the fire to the exterior of the southwest corner roof.
The fire was knocked down by 12:02 a.m. Monday.
The hotel attached to the restaurant was not involved. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
— Neil Hartstein
Males trapped in storm drain
Firefighters rescue males who got trapped in a storm drain at Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara.
SANTA BARBARA – Two males, an adult and one minor, who were out “adventuring” Monday, got trapped in a storm drain at the Earl Warren Showgrounds and had to be rescued, Santa Barbara County Fire officials said.
Santa Barbara city and county firefighters responded to the 11:27 a.m. incident. City firefighters got there first, realized the two trapped people were the ones who had called 9-1-1 and used the Jaws-of-Life to spread the metal grate to free the pair, Capt. Scott Safechuck, County Fire public information officer, said.
“They were adventuring, entered the drain from a different location, and ended up at the location with a steel grate and couldn’t get out,” he said.
They were uninjured.
“Luckily the rain subsided so there were low water levels in the drain,” Capt. Safechuck said.
He urged people who feel cooped up because of the rain and want to go “adventuring” to be careful around creeks and drains.
He said standing on the side of a creek could be dangerous because of the saturated ground which could give way. He warned about riding down a swollen creek on a floatation device because you could get caught on rocks or trees beneath the water, or get trapped in a storm drain with a steel grate and become unable to get out.
– Neil Hartstein
Highway work to result in lane closure
LOMPOC — An emergency project to repair State Route 1 one-half mile north of Jalama Road in Lompoc will result in a lane closure and 24/7 one-way traffic control with delays not to exceed 20 minutes, Caltrans officials said.
The winter storm repair work is expected to take a few weeks to complete and during that time full highway closures will be necessary to complete some of the repairs, officials said.
Travelers are encouraged to detour to State Route 246 to travel between the Lompoc area and Highway 101 until repairs can be made.
Message and directional signs will be in place to alert the traveling public. Drivers are advised to allow extra time during their commute.
The contractor for this $3 million emergency project is Granite Construction of Watsonville. Repairs are expected to be complete within the next three weeks, weather permitting.
— Neil Hartstein
