Nearby schools, the Lompoc campus of Allan Hancock College, and residents of Providence Landing and lower Vandenberg Village were evacuated after a wildland fire broke out a little after noon Thursday east of Vandenberg Space Force Base, west of Lompoc, and southwest of Highway 1. The order was downgraded to a warning about 3 p.m.
Thursday. The blaze has been dubbed the Santa Lucia fire. Nearby Maple High students were evacuated by bus, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Office public information officer Raquel Zick, and parents were asked to go to Cabrillo High School to meet their students.
Santa Barbara County Fire Department also issued an evacuation warning for the Lompoc Valley Center due to the fire. Hancock announced the college's Lompoc Valley Campus closed for the remainder of the day; all day and evening classes were canceled. All Lompoc students and Lompoc employees were asked to leave the campus in a calm and orderly fashion, and residents were asked not to travel to the campus.
The campus Food Share event scheduled for Thursday at the Lompoc campus was also canceled. Santa Lucia Canyon Road was closed west of Hwy. 1 side as well as access to the base at both Santa Lucia and Lompoc gates of Vandenberg.
A temporary evacuation point was set up at Trinity Church of the Nazarine, 500 E. North Ave., Lompoc, and a small animal shelter was established at 1501 W.
Central Ave. The cause of the fire is under investigation. This is a developing story and will be upda.