The Santa Maria Fire Department is investigating a fire that caused $15,000 in damages to a house on Sept. 17.
At just before 8:30 that morning, three engines and a ladder truck responded to a blaze at a vacant house on Oakley Street. Neighbors had called in to report the fire. Within 11 minutes, crews declared the fire under control, keeping it from spreading into the attic or interior of the home.
The conflagration extended to the home’s porch, as well as an electrical meter—which knocked out power for about an hour in the neighborhood.
A fire investigator with the department is handling the investigation into the fire’s cause, which is considered suspicious.
This article appears in Sep 20-27, 2012.