Santa Barbara County firefighters are hoping to get containment Thursday of a brush fire which caused a big scare on the Central Coast.
The 80 acre Cruces fire broke out just before noon yesterday off of Highway 1, about three miles northwest of the Highway 1-101 interchange. It caused the closure of a section of Highway 1 for six hours, and led to the evacuation of some ranches in the area where the fire started. No homes were damaged.
About 200 firefighters aided by helicopters and air tankers got the upper hand on the fire before sunset Wednesday, but getting full containment could be difficult because of rugged terrain in the area.
Early on during the fire Wednesday it was estimated to be about 150 acres, but that number was later reduced to 80 acres after aerial mapping was done. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
