Oil rig off Southern California coast catches fire; ‘no immediate threat' to environment, officials say

LOS ANGELES - A fire broke out on an inactive oil platform along Southern California’s coast early Monday, briefly endangering more than two dozen workers aboard the offshore rig.

Emergency crews were able to safely evacuate the 26 workers on Platform Habitat, an oil rig about eight miles offshore from Carpinteria, though two minor injuries were reported, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The platform was in the process of being decommissioned when some gas leaked and caught fire around 7 a.m. Monday, according to Petty Officer Richard Uranga, spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard. He said crews were able to close a safety valve, halting the gas leak and limiting the extent of the fire.

The fire was contained and the incident secured by about 11 a.m., Uranga said.

The Coast Guard, however, continued to check for any safety and environmental issues from the leak and fire, establishing a 1,000-yard perimeter around the platform.

But as of Monday afternoon, Uranga said there was “no immediate threat” to the environment or the public. At that time, some workers returned to the platform to conduct additional safety work, officials said.

Images shared by the U.S. Coast Guard showed firefighting boats blasting streams of water onto the platform, which was shrouded in black and gray smoke around 11:30 a.m. Monday. Crews from the Ventura and Santa Barbara county fire departments also responded.

Platform Habitat, also known as the Pitas Point Unit, is an offshore rig in the Santa Barbara Channel. It was built in 1981 and began pumping crude in 1983, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, which regulates oil rigs in federal waters.

Its lease to produce oil and gas expired in 2016, according to Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement records.

It is owned and operated by DCOR LLC, a West Coast-based oil and gas company. Calls to the company about the incident were not returned.

During its lifetime, Habitat has produced mostly natural gas - more than 232 million cubic feet - and a relatively meager showing of crude oil, less than 250,000 barrels, according to federal records.

The fire comes as California leaders and environmental groups have clashed with the Trump administration over offshore oil.

Trump officials have continued to push for expanded drilling along California’s coast, a move directly at odds with the state’s green energy goals and recent efforts to move away from oil production. The White House has also backed a controversial project to revive a long-dormant trio of platforms just north of Habitat, also in the Santa Barbara Channel, despite ongoing legal and regulatory concerns. The platforms were shuttered after an associated pipeline burst in 2015, causing one of the worst oil spills in the state’s history.

Some environmental activists pointed to Monday’s fire as another example of the dangers that come with offshore drilling.

“The entire process of drilling in our oceans risks horrible accidents that can injure or kill workers, spill oil that washes up on coastlines, and harm fish and wildlife,” said Joseph Gordon, the campaign director for nonprofit ocean conservation organization Oceana. “We must stop the cycle of destruction and protect both our oceans and those who work and live by them.”

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 3:32 PM.