Tag archives: firefighting

Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District Santa Run and Job Openings
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 28, 2023

The Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District has two announcements for our town: their Annual Santa Run and a call for applications for Firefighter Paramedics and Firefighter EMTs. Pat Cockrum, President of the Santa Barbara South Coast Firefighter Foundation, in conjunction with the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District, announces their 3rd Annual Santa Run on December 9. The […]

Montecito Fire Chief to Retire
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   February 21, 2023

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 […]

2nd Annual Carp-Summerland Firefighters Santa Run
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 27, 2022

Carpinteria-Summerland Firefighters, the Local 3368 International Association of Firefighters, held their 2nd Annual Santa Run on Friday, December 16, with routes through Carpinteria and Summerland respectively.  Founded two years ago by Firefighter (FF) Pat Cockrum, Vice President of Carpinteria-Summerland Firefighters, the event is a community favorite with the entire crew and fire engines from 1926 […]

Fire Department Updates
By Kevin Taylor   |   May 10, 2022

As high fire season approaches, your Montecito firefighters train for the inevitable: weeks of grueling work fighting wildfires across California and, potentially, here at home. Your firefighters are put through a wildland firefighting refresher course each spring in preparation.  Wildland Training Due to the physical demands of wildland firefighting, the refresher course includes a timed, […]

Montecito Firefighters’ Charitable Foundation: Providing Needed Financial Support
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 25, 2021

Montecito Firefighter Lucas Grant is too young to have personal memories of what it was like when local firefighters were an integral part of a community beyond responding to emergencies, but that Norman Rockwell image of the local firehouse as a friendly and helpful gathering place still pulls on his heart. “I hear stories about […]

This Should Be Fire: One805 Returns
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   September 7, 2021

After a long 18 months of attempting to execute a follow-up event to its widely successful Kick Ash Bash following the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow, local nonprofit One805 has announced a smaller scale donor appreciation event, slated for September 18. The special event, which is limited to 350 people, will be held at […]

End of Summer Surprise with One805
By Montecito Journal   |   September 2, 2021

Ready to rock ‘n’ roll for a good cause? Join The Santa Barbara Firefighters Alliance and One805, the local nonprofit that brought us the 2018 Kick Ash Bash, for a donor appreciation event to support our First Responders currently on the frontlines of California’s wildfires. Special guests include Robby Krieger of The Doors and top […]

Chief Widling to Retire
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 24, 2020

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 […]

MFPD Wins Award
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   February 6, 2020

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 […]

Putting Out The Fires
By James Buckley   |   October 3, 2019

Last week, Kelly Mahan Herrick‘s feature “Village Beat” piece laid out in detail how Southern California Edison plans to cut off power to certain areas depending upon wind strength and the level of danger Santa Ana and/or Sundowner winds pose to those in fire zones. As a follow-up, I conducted a short interview with Santa […]

A Community of Heroes
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2018

The Coral Casino suffered major social gridlock when the Montecito Firefighter’s Charitable Foundation threw its 101st anniversary Thanksgiving celebration with the 250 guests raising more than $150,000. Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner, who owns the oceanside venue, was honored with a community hero award, as were Abe Powell of the Bucket Brigade, Taiana Giefer of […]

Firefighter Paramedic Shawn Whilt
By Beverlye Fead   |   October 25, 2018

Thirty-six-year-old Shawn Whilt is the second of Montecito’s heroes that I am fortunate enough to interview. Shawn, a younger, handsome Tom Hanks-ish kind of guy with blue, blue eyes is a Santa Barbara Native. He was born here, went to Santa Barbara High, Santa Barbara City College, and then UCSB.  He was active in sports […]

Daniel Arnold – Montecito Firefighter
By Beverlye Fead   |   October 18, 2018

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 […]

Most of Montecito Not a “High Risk” Zone
By Harry McMullan   |   February 15, 2018

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 […]