Highway 154 Truck Fire Extinguished

A brief blaze along Highway 154 near Cachuma Lake caused by a pick-up truck that caught on fire was quickly extinguished on Friday evening at about 6:30 p.m., according to eyewitnesses.

However, traffic along the Santa Ynez Valley highway was brought to a standstill as firefighters battled the fire, stopping it before it became a much larger wildfire.

One of the eyewitnesses was Indy writer Elizabeth Schwyzer, who called 911 at about 6:25 p.m. when she saw the truck in front of her catch on fire.

“When the driver finally realized something was wrong and pulled over, the truck was immediately engulfed in flames, which then set fire to the undergrowth at the side of the road,” she reports. “At some point, the truck rolled backward across the street and lit the other side of the road as well.”

A half-hour later, the fires on both sides of the road were out, thanks in part to a helicopter that made four drops. The driver and his passenger are sitting on the side if the road and are completely fine,” said Schwyzer. “They got out right away.”