Arson arrest made in connection with fire that shut down Highway 101 in Carpinteria

A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with a fire that caused a major shutdown of Highway 101 in Carpinteria over the weekend.

Santiago Garcia-Soriano of Carpinteria was taken into custody Monday afternoon after Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies observed him digging into the hillside near a drainage culvert along Carpinteria Creek, according to Raquel Zick, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

Investigators believe the culvert was the origin point for a fire in the drainage system that closed the freeway and adjacent Via Real Saturday night and early Sunday.

Deputies and a fire investigator from the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District spoke to Garcia-Soriano, and he admitted he started a fire in the culvert on Saturday, Zick said.

Garcia-Soriano was arrested on suspicion of arson to property, a felony, and possession of cocaine, a misdemeanor, Zick said.

He was booked into the county jail, with bail set at $250,000. He remained in custody on Tuesday.

The fire was started inside a drainage culvert that is lined with corrugated plastic pipe, according to Rob Rappaport, fire marshal for the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District.

He noted that the plastic fed the flames and produced the dark black smoke that poured from the drainage openings.

Rappaport told Noozhawk the blaze does not appear to have been the result of a warming or cooking fire. He added that “no ignitable liquids” such as gasoline were used to start the blaze.

The northbound freeway lanes were reopened early Sunday morning, but a section of Via Real has remained closed, Rappaport said, while Caltrans and Carpinteria public works officials inspect the drains and roadway to make sure they are structurally sound.

Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.