Tag archives: firefighter
Earlier this week, Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor announced his upcoming retirement from the Montecito Fire Department after 35 years of service. Chief Taylor has served as fire chief since 2019; his last day at the helm will be March 31. “This career has been the honor of my life,” Chief Taylor told us during […]
The following was written after having to evacuate rapidly, with no warning, at 1 pm on January 9, 2023, from the lower Mission Creek area, where I live. Sunday night, it was a bucolic stream. It turned torrential a few hours later and turned my street into a swift river. For the past five years, […]
What a delight it was to meet the Ru family at the Summerland Fire Station on a recent Sunday afternoon where the rather precocious and terribly adorable two-and-a-half-year-old, Teddy Firestone Ru, was practicing his firefighting skills with great aplomb under the kind guidance of Interim Summerland-Carpinteria Fire Captain Johan Nilsson. He handled the hose with […]
Also happening at MFPD, Montecito Fire Division Chief of Operations, Alan Widling, is set to retire on December 30. The #2 in command at MFPD, Chief Widling has worked the last 31 years of his life in the service of others. Widling was hired as a full-time firefighter by the Montecito Fire Department in September […]
Residents in California have been waking up to apocalyptic orange skies caused by wildfires across the state. For a Thought Leader Series, we share a ProPublica article that dives deeper into solutions for reducing the severity of what many are now calling “megafires.” Tim Ingalsbee is a previous wildland firefighter who is frustrated with the […]
The Wildfire Mitigation Awards committee has named the three recipients of this year’s Wildfire Mitigation Awards. These individuals and organizations have earned the highest commendation for innovation and leadership in wildfire mitigation for their outstanding dedication to solving many of the most complex challenges posed by wildfire; Montecito Fire Department joins Tri-Lakes United Methodist Church […]
If you’ve been up in the foothills of Montecito the last few weeks, you may have seen crews of men clearing out brush from our local hillsides as part of the Montecito Fire Protection District’s vegetation management program. For the last several years, the crews used to perform the work have been inmate fire crews […]
It’s a U.S. flag that measures seven feet by nine feet, was designed by retired firefighter John Carrillo, and is composed of fire hoses and couplings that were actually used fighting the Thomas Fire. A separate display case holds another smaller length of fire hose containing the signatures of every firefighter involved in fighting the […]
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. […]
Aaron Briner, 43, grew up in Santa Barbara and is an eighth-generation Santa Barbara native. He attended San Marcos High School and has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Aaron reminds one of a younger, more handsome brother of Garth Brooks. He seems very Americana, laid-back, and you can […]
As those of you who have read my column know, I have written about people who are still thriving and doing what they love in the third and fourth chapters of their lives. For the next few weeks, however, I am going to write about five of Montecito’s firefighters who literally saved our lives in […]
