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.