Alex Broumand, Firefighter and Paramedic

Alex, a younger Robert De Niro lookalike, was born 51 years ago in Queens, New York, in August 1967. He moved to Santa Barbara in 1970 with his parents and that’s where he grew up. His father owned an antique shop on Coast Village Road, and his mother worked at Churchill Jewelers on State Street.

He attended Star King, Washington School, Peabody School, La Colina Junior High and graduated from San Marcos High School. He attended San Diego State University for two years before dropping out to travel. And travel he did!

In the year after he left SDSU, he kayaked 500 miles of the Sea of Cortez and travelled through Mexico to Central America. The 1980s were a crazy time to be traveling in this area, so he left for home and wound up instead in Alaska, fishing for crab, halibut, and salmon.

When he returned to Santa Barbara, he enrolled in the Marine Technology program at SBCC. He became a certified commercial diver and a recreational SCUBA instructor. He worked on a cruise ship out of Saint Petersburg, Florida, teaching diving for six months after graduating.

Coming back to town, he met and married his lovely wife, Monica, who he has been happily married to for 22 years. They have two boys: Ryan, 20, and Aaron, 16.

Alex used his EMT certification to get a job with Mobile Life Support on their new NICU ambulance. He worked there for nine years, having become a paramedic and a supervisor. During that time, he had several exciting assignments; he worked for the Santa Maria Police Department as a paramedic on their SWAT team (three years), was assigned to President Clinton as a paramedic, and rode in the president’s motorcade.

His fire career started as a firefighter/paramedic with Carpinteria Summerland Fire. Nine years later, he competed for a spot with the Montecito Fire Department and said he was blessed with the best job anyone could dream of. He has been serving the Montecito community for 11 years now as a firefighter/paramedic. He loves this community. “I have lived and worked in many places, but this town is different, a very special place with very special people,” he said with a smile and a nod.

I asked him about his time in the Thomas Fire. During the blaze, he was assigned to a patrol unit out of Station 1. He and Lucas Grant would patrol the district, ensuring access to incoming resources and patrolling the fire line looking to spot fires.

They had crews from all over California and the nation working together to protect Montecito and its residents. He said, “After twenty years in the fire service, I was never more proud of my fire department and the colleagues I work with. From the wildland specialists to the firefighters and command staff, everyone did an outstanding job.”

Alex was assigned to Medic Engine 92 during the debris flow. He was awakened at 3:40 am to respond to a structure fire. He was absolutely stunned by what he saw: before he even wiped the sleep out of his eyes, he was confronted with overwhelming disaster. It was hard to recognize Montecito. While trying to get to the fire, they found the first of many victims of the debris flow. The next 12 hours were a blur for him, as were the next 12 days. Even after all this, he says he has so much for which to be thankful.

“I’m grateful for my wife and my sons who give me strength. I’m grateful for all of the wives and husbands married to fire department employees who sacrifice so much to support us. I’m grateful to work with such amazing people. I’m grateful none of my colleagues were badly injured or killed. I’m grateful to the other agencies that came to assist us, to the unknown heroes who we will never know, first responders and civilians who risked so much. I’m grateful for a community that banded together not only to rescue each other but to help heal each other with hard work and compassionate hearts.” 

I think that just about says it!

He went on to say, “We are well into the healing part of these past disasters, and the Montecito firefighters want to continue to help the community we work in and the professionals we work with.”

By the way, Alex is president of Montecito’s firefighter’s Charitable Foundation and would like you to join him this Thanksgiving season in saying “thank you” to some of our local heroes.

Alex, you are one of them – and we thank you for all you have done!