SANTA MARIA, Calif.- A shed attached to a home goes up in flames and Santa Maria Fire Department is calling the fire suspicious.
"It was just one big boom and the next thing I looked outside and the whole thing on the side of the house was on fire," says Shirley Smith, a neighbor.
Shirley Smith says she saw it all, flames coming from the home on the 500 block north of Oakley Street at about 8:20 Monday morning.
"It involved a shed that was connected to the house and a fence and the shed was fully involved. When they arrived on scene it extended to the porch above the front door," says Acting Battalion Chief Jim Clayton, Santa Maria Fire Department.
Santa Maria Fire says the home is vacant and now owned by the bank after a family recently was forced to move out.
"They just moved out this weekend and they had been there for about 18 years and it was kind of sad to see them leave because they had moving everything out. With the market and everything with homes you loose your job, you just have to let it go, and that's what happened to them," says Smith.
Crews spent the day investigating the exact cause of the suspicious blaze.
"Because they were able to rule out electrical or unintentional causes or natural causes they are focusing more on human cause of the fire," says Clayton.
The fire also damaged an electrical meter at the home, which caused a power outage for about an hour. No one was injured and Santa Maria Fire estimate the extent of the damage to be about $15,000.
