More than a year after a fire tore through a vacant Solvang restaurant, fire investigators say they know how it started — and are now asking the public to help identify who was behind it.
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department announced in a press release Monday that a December 5, 2024, fire at the former Sear Steakhouse on Fourth Street was intentionally set. Investigators say three individuals — believed to be juveniles or young adults from the Santa Ynez Valley — were seen leaving the building roughly 15 minutes before the fire was first reported.
Security footage places the same trio across the street soon after, lingering in a parking lot as the building went up in flames.