Tag archives: evacuation

The County is seeking public involvement in a survey to help enhance emergency response plans and preparedness in local areas. The purpose of the survey is to understand constraints and behavior during emergencies such as wildfires, floods, chemical spills, and other catastrophic events.  The survey, which takes less than five minutes to complete, will directly […]

An EVACUATION ORDER has been issued for today, Tuesday March 14, 2023, for the identified properties and areas in south Santa Barbara County associated with the Alisal, Cave, and Thomas Fires due to existing debris flow hazards and flooding. Everyone in the current Thomas Fire Storm Impact Consideration Map properties are being ordered to evacuate. Click here to access an interactive evacuation […]

I read with great interest Gwyn Lurie’s recent editorial Q&A with Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor. As a retired Certified Emergency Manager, with 23 years of experience in County Emergency Management, I find these topics very interesting from both a personal and professional perspective. I’ll preface my comments by saying that I have an enormous […]

Montecito Association’s Annual Meeting was postponed last week because of the storm and evacuation, instead meeting on Wednesday, January 11. The Board of Directors and attendees were briefed on evacuations and flood damage by Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Commander Brad Welch, and Lieutenant Butch Arnoldi.  Chief Taylor thanked the Board […]

I’m sure I’m not alone in being relieved that our community did not have to be evacuated during the storm this past weekend. Still, I was on pins and needles wondering whether that scary alarm would suddenly come blaring from my phone, informing me it was time to pile my family, my dogs, and a […]

I’m reluctant to report on our experiences with the January 9th flood. It was difficult because 45% of our home was damaged. We couldn’t even get into our property for a month to view the damage. Yet the final result turned out to be very successful.  But we mourn the 23 people who died as […]

Richard Schultz, recently widowed, anticipated a quiet, uneventful winter at his home in Montecito, California. Instead he found himself confronted by two terrifying natural disasters – first, the Thomas Fire, the worst in California’s history at the time, burning 273,000 acres and over 200 Montecito homes, followed by the subsequent mudslide that left 23 people dead. […]

Last Friday, July 22, the Montecito Fire Protection District Board of Directors was given a presentation by Chelsea Richer of Fehr & Peers, a consultant company hired by the District to conduct an in-depth study of the District’s evacuation plan. The study took hundreds of hours over 10 months to complete and provided the District […]

Those three little words…  No. Not “I love you.” We do love you but we’re talking about: Ready! Set! Go!  They are three little words that can make a life-or-death difference if you choose to take them seriously, now. What is a wildfire action plan and what does it mean for those of us in […]

With over a week of wet weather, Montecito debris basins, ring nets, and creek channels held up extremely well, according to Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor, who gave us an update on the weather earlier this week. Crews from County Flood Control and Public Works were in Montecito Tuesday morning, assessing the impact of the […]

Next Thursday, December 5, Montecito Fire Department, in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Carpinteria Summerland Fire Protection District, and 1st District Supervisor Das Williams, invites the public to attend a community informational meeting in advance of the winter storm season. The purpose of this community meeting is to publicly […]

On Monday, December 3, the County Office of Emergency Management is set to release a revised Debris Flow Risk Map, which includes revisions to current evacuation zones. The release of the map will be followed by three community meetings in Montecito and Carpinteria in the coming weeks.    The County released the current Debris Flow […]

This week, Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services will release a new evacuation and debris flow map to help get Montecito residents prepared for the rainy season. “Our team has been very reflective over the spring and summer, and we’ve arrived at this place to be able to give the public ample time before […]

As we roll into spring, most in Montecito feel a temporary sense of relief, anticipating that any rainstorm in April will not rise to the ½-inch-per-hour threshold needed to trigger another evacuation. Evidence is that the added protection from new wider, deeper, boulder-lined creek channels restored by the Army Corps of Engineers and County Flood […]

As Montecito residents recover from their fifth mandatory evacuation since the start of the Thomas Wildfire, there is a growing frustration that the future fate of Montecito will not be resolved by a “Montecito Strong” community visioning plan of our own making, but by external forces outside this community’s span of control. Fifteen weeks have […]

Harry Kolb’s wife, Karen, recently passed away (see “In Passing” on page16); he penned the following short but poignant memory of their growing up together during an email back-and-forth with us that we think deserves wider dissemination: Karen’s brother, Jim, and I were best friends growing up in the St. Louis hills and Karen was […]

GUEST EDITORIAL by Harry McMullan (Mr. McMullan wrote the following to the Santa Barbara Fire chief, Santa Barbara County sheriff, and all five County supervisors.) My wife and I are residents of Montecito, and we appreciate beyond words the inspiring work of all the firefighters and other first responders who so selflessly and brilliantly saved […]

Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management held both a press conference and a community meeting on February 8, to unveil a new interactive map and revised evacuation plans for future storms, nearly one month after 21 people were killed – two others remain missing – in the mud flow event of January 9. “This […]

On Tuesday, January 23, evacuation orders were lifted on the western flank of Montecito, including Coast Village Road, which was closed for two weeks following the mudslides on January 9. Major utilities including sewer, electricity, and gas, were up-and-running, allowing most businesses to repopulate and welcome customers back to the business district, following the opening […]