Thirteen students and Isla Vista residents were smoked out of their Del Playa home Friday when part of their house caught fire and burned uncontrollably for roughly an hour.

Firefighters received a call for assistance at 8:49 p.m., and by the time authorities arrived at the scene of the blaze a heavy volume of smoke was pluming from the garage of the residence at 6607 DP, Captain Eli Eskow of the Santa Barbara County Fire Dept. said. The fire appeared to originate in the residence’s garage, Eskow said, and then spread deeper into the structure before the burn was under firefighters’ control at 9:35 p.m.

No one was injured in the blaze, but firefighters were forced to tear down part of the approximately 3,000-square-foot-structure’s ceiling in order to control the flames.

“[Firefighters] staged an aggressive attack of the fire from the bathroom and the hallway where it had extended into the structure,” Eskow said. “They pulled the ceiling in the hallway and the bathroom and knocked the fire down. They did not have to open a hole in the roof.”

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but Eskow said an investigation into the incident has begun.

In addition, Eskow said The American Red Cross has been alerted to aid the victims of the fire, which he estimated caused roughly $25,000 in damage.

-Staff Report