Tag archives: Thomas Fire
At this month’s Montecito Association Lane Use Committee meeting, the Committee was given a briefing on the rebuilding of Montecito from Matt Pontes, the County’s director of recovery, as well as representatives from the Planning & Development department. “We are considering this ‘Phase Two’ of the disaster, trying to navigate the rebuilding process,” said Cori […]
While Montecito residents and businesses continue to rebuild following the mudflow event of January 9, the Montecito Fire District, which is credited with saving many lives during the storm event, recently welcomed the newest member of their team. Luca Gil Nahas – the son of Araceli Gil, District accountant for MFPD, and her husband, Rich […]
It has been nearly a month since we were awakened in the middle of the night, without electrical power, to the drumbeat of a pounding rainstorm and the roar of a descending mountain of mud and boulders. As is usual in a natural disaster, there were scenes of personal heroism from unnamed first responders and […]
I chose to write this letter even at the hesitation of the people I am writing it for… I am a past resident of Montecito, where I grew up. I attended Mt. Carmel School as well as Bishop Diego. I moved away after college, yet continue to visit my parents and sister who are still […]
It is an extraordinary tale of grit and survival. So much so that this illustrious organ’s bridle correspondent, Lynn Kirst and her 93-year-old mother, Colleen, were flown to New York last week by the NBC network to appear with Megyn Kelly on the Today show. In the 10-minute segment, the dynamic duo recounted in harrowing […]
One of the unexpected gifts of the twin tragedies of the Thomas Fire, the largest recorded wildfire in California’s history, and the subsequent Montecito mudslide that engulfed our small village, has been the outpouring of sympathy, compassion, and support from our neighbors in the City of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Summerland, Goleta, the rest of Santa […]
Santa Barbara was hardly given a chance to breathe following the Thomas Fire – the largest fire in recorded California history – when the Thomas Flood struck a far more damaging blow to the Montecito, California community. After the fire, a committee of appreciative community members quickly assembled to say “thank you” to the first […]
On the morning of January 9, our family narrowly escaped a tsunami of mud waters and our family is lucky to be alive. When the mountain of mud came at us, we fled our home as fast as we could. My husband took one car and I took another. We went to the right and […]
Last week, thousands of displaced Montecito residents were allowed to go back to their homes, after being mandatorily evacuated for more than two weeks following the mudflow event on January 9. The majority of Montecito residents and business owners are slowly getting back to their day-to-day routine, as others have spent the last week removing […]
On Sunday, January 28, the grassroots organization Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade, led by Montecito Fire Protection District Board president Abe Powell, began helping homeowners clear out mud and debris from their driveways, homes, and properties. Dozens of volunteers, including local contractors donating their equipment and time, have assembled to help homeowners, who are overwhelmed with […]
A week ago, law professor Kenneth Klein wrote a Los Angeles Times op-ed saying that Montecito residents should not expect their homeowners insurance to cover flood and mudslide damage. He argued that policy exclusions likely preclude recovery. I challenged that assertion in a letter to the editor, arguing that where there are multiple, different causes […]
Chris Wilkinson and his son, Kai, filled their truck with emergency supplies and radio equipment. They are members of the Montecito Emergency Response and Recovery Action Group known as MERRAG. It was January 8. KEYT had warned of heavy rainfall. As a third-generation Montecitoan who has lived in the same Glen Oaks home since 1963, […]
Being a writer and one of the lucky ones to have survived the recent California Thomas Fire and Montecito mudslides, I feel compelled to try to express what others and I are feeling. I’ve rarely had a difficult time putting my feelings into words, but these two experiences have truly left me scrambling. I’ve been […]
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 […]
At a District board meeting on January 22, the Montecito Fire Protection District Board of Directors was briefed on the mudslide situation by division chief of operations, Kevin Taylor. As of Monday, the recovery operations for the incident was transitioned to the County’s Emergency Operations Center, with Montecito Fire having an advisory role in the […]
Our family’s story involves almost all the children who were killed during this terrible tragedy. You see, we own (I guess I should say owned) a house directly next to the Taylor and Benitez families. There is nothing left. Literally, nothing. What’s worse is that our dear friends and neighbors were pummeled by the storm, […]
We are sending this email to all our friends and family who have reached out to us in regard to the Montecito fire and mudslide tragedies and evacuations. The story begins over a month ago, when Lynda and I were forced to evacuate our Romero Canyon home due to the largest wildfire in California history. Three […]
All of us have been damaged by the fires and mudflows that have left our community reeling over the past month. As we grieve for the loss of too many of our neighbors, and the destruction of so much of our community, we all share the burden of getting the insurance coverage we paid for […]
Last month, after a mandatory evacuation because of the Thomas Fire that destroyed 1,063 homes, which saw me fleeing to animal activist Gretchen Lieff‘s ranch near Santa Maria, and then flying to England to spend Yuletide at a 400-year-old cottage in Cornwall with Santa Barbara Polo Club sponsor Cat Pollon, I thought the disruption was […]
Former Oscars emcee and TV talker Ellen DeGeneres put the generous in her name when she hosted local firefighters to a bash at her Montecito home, Villa di Lemma, to thank them for their help during the Thomas Fire. Ten members of Strike Team 2040A from various departments in Contra Costa County and three fire […]
