At around 10 p.m. Tuesday, smoke filled the air in Los Alamos when construction equipment caught fire at the Village Square housing development site.
“Last night, I heard loud noises like popping sounds. I went and looked out my bedroom window and saw a large fire on the construction side,” said Christine Adams of Los Alamos.
Adams lives just a short walk away from the future housing development.
She says she and her neighbors quickly dialed 911 as they watched and smelled the equipment burning.
“It smelled horrible. The rubber burning, the fuel burning,” she recalled. “The smoke was so dark black. Even at night, you could see how dark it was.”
Santa Barbara County Fire Department Public Information Officer Scott Safechuck says when units arrived, they found a backhoe fully engulfed in flames.
“Now that you mention it, I did hear something last night,” said Los Alamos resident Mary Maranville. “I thought it was the Air Force Base. I didn’t think it was a fire across the street from my house.”