Update Friday 7:30 a.m.: In the early hours of Friday morning, firefighters stopped forward progress of the Loma Fire, and at 12:30 a.m. evacuation orders were lifted. Firefighters "continue to mop up hot spots and secure containment," according S.B. County Fire's Mike Eliason in a Twitter post at 6:28 a.m. The last reported containment was 40 percent, and the revised acreage burned is now at 10 acres. Two homes were damaged, and no injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire, which broke out at around 9 p.m. on Thursday in Santa Barbara's Westside, is under investigation.
Update 11:20 p.m.: The first person to respond to Thursday night's Loma Fire was Jose Arevalo, the property manager from the Dreier building on Miramonte Drive next to the KEYT TV station on TV Hill. Arevalo put a professional firehose on the fire before the fire crews came. There are three fire hydrants nearby. The fire is controlled on TV Hill, but 50 homes have been threatened, and one was damaged. The fire as of 11 p.m. is still 0 percent contained, according to KEYT.
Seventeen engine crews are on the scene, and evacuation orders are in effect for the 900 block of Miramonte Drive as well as Weldon Road, Isleta Avenue, Arroyo Avenue, and Loma Alta from San Andres to Weldon.