TRAFFIC, CRIME AND FIRE BLOTTER

One person dies after car goes off highway

SANTA MARIA — A car went 200 feet over the side of the road Friday on State Route 166, leaving one person dead and another in critical condition.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded at 8:13 a.m. to the incident, which happened three-fourths of a mile east of Rockfront

Ranch in Santa Maria. The California Highway Patrol also responded. Crews extricated the two people who were in the car. Santa Barbara County Copter 3 airlifted the person in critical condition to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, said Capt. Safe Safechuck, County Fire’s public information officer. State Route 166 was closed in both directions.

— Katherine Zehnder