Santa Barbara Police Make Arson Arrest Following Multiple Fires on Modoc Road 

A 43-year-old man is in Santa Barbara County Jail facing multiple counts of arson after police say he admitted to setting three brush fires along Modoc Road on Thursday — the day before a red flag warning was set to take effect across the region amid building Santa Ana winds.

Calletano Bedolla-Bibiano was arrested Thursday afternoon, October 15, after officers found him at the scene of a third fire on Modoc Road just past Las Positas Road, according to the Santa Barbara Independent. Police say he admitted to starting all three blazes, and investigators subsequently linked him to four additional fires set last weekend on the 3600 block of State Street near the Speedway gas station.

The string of fires came at a particularly dangerous moment for the South Coast.

How the Arrest Unfolded

The sequence began just after noon Thursday, when Santa Barbara police officers responded to a brush fire near La Cumbre Junior High School, where city firefighters were already working to knock down the flames, the Independent reported.

When officers arrived, they spotted a second brush fire burning just down the street — near Santa Barbara Fire Station 5. Police officers and firefighters together extinguished both blazes.

While those two fires were being brought under control roughly a quarter-mile away, an SBPD officer on patrol discovered a third brush fire on Modoc Road, just past Las Positas. At that scene, officers encountered Bedolla-Bibiano, who police say admitted to starting all three fires.

He was arrested on multiple counts of arson and booked into county jail Thursday afternoon.

Fires Set as Fire Danger Peaked

The timing of the alleged arson ramped up the stakes considerably. According to County Fire, Thursday's fire danger was rated high. Santa Ana winds were beginning to pick up, and the National Weather Service had issued a Fire Weather Watch and red flag warning set to take effect Friday morning.

A red flag warning is the weather service's highest-level alert for fire weather conditions, signaling a combination of low humidity, strong winds, and dry vegetation that can allow any new ignition to spread rapidly. For the fire-prone hillsides above Santa Barbara — a city that has lived through repeated wildfire disasters, from the 1990 Painted Cave Fire to the 2017 Thomas Fire and resulting debris flows — a deliberately set fire during red flag conditions is among the most serious public safety scenarios imaginable.

Firefighters, aware of the mounting danger, worked quickly and successfully extinguished all three blazes before winds arrived. No injuries or structure losses were reported in connection with the fires, according to the Independent's account.

Investigation Remains Ongoing

The Santa Barbara Fire Department's Fire Marshal and fire investigators responded to the scenes Thursday to examine the origins of the blazes. That investigation remains ongoing, and officials have not said whether additional charges may be filed in connection with the four State Street fires from the previous weekend.

Those earlier fires occurred on the 3600 block of State Street near the Speedway gas station — a busy commercial corridor just a short distance from the Modoc Road area where Thursday's fires were set. Police linked Bedolla-Bibiano to those four incidents during the follow-up investigation, the Independent reported.

Authorities have not released details on how the fires were ignited or what, if any, motive was described. Prosecutors will ultimately determine the formal charges filed in court, and arraignment information was not immediately available.

Why It Matters for Santa Barbara Residents

For residents of the neighborhoods around Modoc Road, La Cumbre Junior High, and the upper State Street corridor, the arrests underscore how quickly a single individual can put an entire community at risk during peak fire season.

The Modoc Road corridor — which runs past schools, a fire station, residential neighborhoods, and open stretches of brush — sits at the boundary between the city's dense westside and the wildland edges where fire risk is highest. That firefighters at Station 5 were among the first affected by Thursday's blazes illustrates both the randomness of the fires' placement and the fortunate proximity of firefighting resources.

The incident also highlights the role of patrol officers in fire response: it was an SBPD officer on routine patrol, not a fire crew, who discovered the third fire and found the suspect still at the scene.

City fire officials have long urged residents to report suspicious activity during red flag conditions immediately, when a fast response can mean the difference between a quickly extinguished brush fire and a catastrophic wind-driven blaze.

Anyone with additional information about the fires is encouraged to contact the Santa Barbara Police Department. As the investigation continues, 805.life will provide updates on charging decisions and court proceedings as they become available.