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Fire Hits South Coast Apartment Complex

(Santa Barbara Fire Department photo by Peter Hartman))
Fire hits a Santa Barbara apartment complex Thursday

Some residents of a South Coast apartment complex had a close call with disaster, when a malfunctioning wall heater led to a fire and explosion.

It happened at around 5:30 Thursday morning, on West Arrellaga Street in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from a second story apartment. 

As they started to fight the fire, a window blew out, and flames shot out of the unit.

Fortunately, the two people in the apartment were able to get out safely. Firefighters quickly knocked down the flames, but two apartment units suffered major damage.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.