Debris From Destroyed Missile Sparks Fire

Smoldering debris from an off-course Minuteman 1 missile ignited a 500-acre brush fire on Tuesday, engulfing the northern end of Vandenberg Air Force Base in flames and briefly threatening the nearby town of Casmalia.

The fire, which was sparked at 10:30 a.m. when the 68-foot missile was blown up during a launch at the base, had been brought under control by nightfall, Santa Barbara County fire officials said. There were no injuries.

But county sheriff’s deputies nonetheless spent much of the afternoon alerting the about 200 residents of Casmalia to a voluntary evacuation order, called because of drifting smoke from the blaze, which occurred about 15 miles north of Lompoc.

The fire also closed a rail line, blocking Amtrak’s two Coast Starlight trains between Los Angeles and Seattle. About 600 passengers from north- and southbound trains were bused between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

The missile, a decommissioned ICBM, had no hazardous material aboard, according to Air Force spokesman Capt. Lee-Volker Cox. It was destroyed shortly after launch when “the range safety officer determined the missile could not meet its objective,” Cox said.

The missile carried a secret payload for the Army’s space and strategic defense command, an Air Force re-entry systems launch program that Army officials called a “target development test,” said Air Force Maj. Michele Boyd in Los Angeles.

Several small fires in the dry brush on the base soon joined into a blaze that threatened to spread, raising concern and memories of the devastating 1990 Painted Cave fire that destroyed hundreds of homes near Santa Barbara, about 40 miles south of the Air Force base.

The Red Cross was ready in the nearby town of Orcutt for evacuees, expecting people to leave Casmalia after they returned home from work, said volunteer spokeswoman Carolee Haloposs.

At least one man wasn’t leaving: Bill Ostini, owner of the Hitching Post steakhouse less than a mile from the fire, stayed put and hosed off his roof Tuesday afternoon. “The building has been here a hundred years,” he said, “so I can withstand this.”

Correspondent Hugen reported from Lompoc and staff writer Morrison from Los Angeles.