A fire on the Habitat offshore platform was brought under control on Monday after a gas leak ignited during decommissioning work in the Santa Barbara Channel.
The non-operational natural gas platform is located about 13 km off Santa Barbara. The incident began at around 7 am local time while workers were carrying out work on the structure. The US Coast Guard said crews stopped the gas flow by closing a safety valve, which helped limit the fire.
The blaze was confirmed extinguished at about 11:40 am. Emergency teams evacuated 26 workers from the platform, and two minor injuries were reported. Some personnel later returned to complete safety-related tasks.
The Habitat platform, also called the Pitas Point Unit, was built in 1981 and began crude production in 1983. It mainly produced natural gas, with output of more than 6.5m cubic meters before its lease expired in 2016. The platform is owned and operated by DCOR LLC.
After the incident, the Coast Guard set a 1,000-yard safety perimeter around the facility and continued environmental monitoring. Officials said there were no signs of oil entering the sea and no current impact on wildlife or the public. An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause.
The fire occurred as the Trump administration is seeking to restart offshore lease sales along the California coast for the first time since 1994. The proposal includes six lease sales from 2027 to 2030, while California’s long-standing restrictions on federal offshore leasing beyond state waters remain a major policy issue.
The administration has also instructed Sable Offshore to resume operations at the Santa Ynez Unit and Santa Ynez Pipeline System, citing supply risks linked to Iran’s Strait of Hormuz closure. However, the full restart of the pipeline continues to face legal challenges.
