Summerland dodged a bullet Tuesday evening as 50 mile per hour winds threatened to push flames from a fully engulfed house into the surrounding neighborhood. Fortunately, when the blaze started inside the three-story residence — reportedly empty at the time — near the corner of Whitney Avenue and Valencia Road, firefighters were at the house across the street responding to reported power surges. “The house went up faster than I’ve ever seen,” said one of the first firefighters on the scene. “It was unsaveable.” As crews from Summerland-Carpinteria, Montecito, Santa Barbara city and county, and Ventura responded, jumping embers started a brushfire in a nearby yard. That fire was contained quickly, no other homes were damaged, and no injuries were reported.
