UPDATE: Crews extinguish fire inside Frontier Communications building cable vault in Santa Maria
Jul. 13—Crews on Tuesday extinguished a fire that broke out inside of an underground cable vault located at a Santa Maria telecommunications building on South Bradley Road.
City and county firefighters responded to the Frontier Communications building, located in the 4000 block of South Bradley Road, at about 9:45 a.m., according to Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason.
The fire was extinguished at about 2:30 p.m. after personnel gained access to the vault, according to Eliason. The fire broke out in a small space accessible through an access panel, although crews that trained working in confined spaces were able to access the vault.
The fire did not extend to the rest of the structure, which was evacuated, and the cause is under investigation.
The building, which is located across the street from Righetti High School and next to a Vandenberg Space Force Base housing administrative building, also appears to contain refrigeration units, Eliason added.
