Lucas Grant, Firefighter EMT
Lucas Grant, our 31-year-old Steve McQueen lookalike, seems as though he would be just as comfortable stepping into a Formula One as he would a fire engine. He was born and raised in San Luis Obispo with older sister, Ashley. He played lots of sports growing up, mainly basketball, baseball, and football. He developed great friends who he stays in close contact with to this day. He is lucky to have one of his closest friends work at the department, and he works out with him all the time.
As a kid, Lucas and his family were fortunate enough to travel together quite a lot. Their main trip was a boating excursion around the waters of the British Virgin Islands. Because of being on the water so much, he developed a huge love of fishing. Even now, with his busy schedule, he still finds time to fish up and down the coast, from Big Sur to Santa Barbara. Before becoming a firefighter, he went to automotive trade school and got his AA at Cuesta College.
He married his wife, Emily House, two years ago. They have three dogs and a cat at this point. His love of travel continues, as does his wife’s, and they have been going to as many places as possible. A few years ago, they found Costa Rica and it has become their favorite spot. They hope to move down there someday. Lucas said, speaking about his wife, “She is the rock of our house and I am incredibly lucky to be married to her.”
During the Thomas Fire, he was assigned to Montecito Station 1. When he arrived back to work, there were no engines for him to be on. He was set up as a scout/patrol with Alex Broumand. Their duties ranged from opening locked gates to patrolling the fire line and helping with evacuations. The morning the fire blew through Montecito, their main goal was to locate spot fires and relay that information so engines that could put them out.
Lucas will always feel grateful for the large amount of firefighters from across the nation who helped them protect Montecito that day. He shook his head and said, “Without them, we all would have suffered so much more damage.”
During the debris flow, he was assigned to the USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) at Station 1. When the incident first started, the USAR was unable to drive through the district due to all the water, mud, and rocks. He and captain Drue Holthe jumped in an SUV and started responding to people who needed help. They spent the morning picking up people who were trapped or displaced. He and Drue set up a helicopter landing zone at Montecito Union School and flew several patients out the morning of January 9. “We spent the afternoon and evening at All Saints by the Sea, ready to triage patients and also to inform the public of what was going on.” After the initial couple of days, he was part of the search-and-rescue efforts that took place for the next couple of weeks.
“I feel incredibly proud to work for the Montecito Fire Department and serve the community of Montecito. The support we get from the members of our community is unbelievable. I love coming to work knowing that we are here to help such wonderful people,” he said with a smile.
We are lucky to have you, Lucas!
Thank you for all that you do!
