Tag archives: Thomas Fire

Tuesday, January 8, 2019 was the 71st annual Montecito Association meeting, marking the retirement of directors Frank Abatemarco, Frank Blue, Barbara Matthews, and Michelle Saltoun.  Outgoing president Charlene Nagel thanked the board for their service during her two-year tenure as president, noting the achievements of the Association in the last year, including several successful events, […]

It is more than obvious that 2018 was a pivotal year for Montecito and its residents. The first week of the year, we were recovering from the Thomas Fire, which weeks earlier had suffocated Montecito and Santa Barbara in smoke and ash while scorching nearly 282,000 acres from Ventura to Santa Barbara, including ten structures […]

Tremendous prayer support and outstanding work by firefighters have kept Westmont safe. The college remained on mandatory evacuation through Wednesday, December 20, as firefighters mopped up hot spots from the firestorm. On December 16, winds blew the Thomas Fire toward campus. Engines and firefighters actively worked to protect the campus and have put out a […]

One year ago, pretty much right now, I was looking up from Montecito Street in Santa Barbara at Montecito Peak on fire. I thought for sure all of Montecito would burn. But it didn’t, thanks to 8,000 firefighters. Dan SeibertMontecito (Editor’s note: Well, yes, while we can’t say Montecito was “lucky,” as we lost nearly […]

Montecito resident Christie Jenkins has produced 200 boxes of special holiday cards, the sale of which will go to support the Montecito Firefighters Charitable Foundation.  Jenkins, like many Montecito residents, was evacuated from her home during the Thomas Fire, just months after moving to the area after closing her fine photography gallery in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Jenkins […]

After inviting Montecito firefighters to her home a year ago during the Thomas Fire, former Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres followed up by having them come to her Burbank based studio for her popular eponymous TV talk show. “It was quite a day,” says local realtor Diana MacFarlane, whose son, Dan is pictured third from the […]

A few months before the fires and the terrible mud slides in Montecito, I wrote to Santa Barbara County South Coast Maintenance Superintendent Randy Carnahan and attached a picture of the cracked asphalts on the surface of Channel Drive and asked that it be repaired. He responded that he would place it on the repair […]

While keeping a wary eye on the weather this winter, residents of Montecito are watching their rainfall charts, fearful of a repeat of heavy storms and mandatory evacuation notices. Seared in our minds are personal memories of the 1/9 disaster when a massive debris flow destroyed or damaged 470 homes in Montecito, and brutally took […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

At a meeting earlier this week, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors heard from Katie Freeman, a consultant with Hagerty Consulting, who presented an After-Action Report on the Thomas Fire and January 9 debris flow. The purpose of the report was to highlight the strengths of the County during the emergencies, while taking a […]

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 […]

The Montecito Fire Protection District is hosting two meetings next week to discuss wildfires. The first will be a review of the 2017 Thomas Fire and the Department’s Wildland Fire Program, and the second will be a discussion about climate change and its effects on wildfires. On Wednesday, October 17, MFPD will present a report […]

On September 20, nearly 100 people gathered at the “corner green” at San Ysidro Road and East Valley Road, for a special dedication ceremony to mark the installation of a new plaque dedicated to the victims of the Thomas Fire and mudslides. “The plaque is here to note and remember the lives lost, as well […]

At a special ceremony at Fire Station 1 last week, the United States Postal Service unveiled a commemorative Forever Stamp that honors first responders. USPS district manager Alfred Santos told the large crowd that he was moved to host the unveiling in Montecito, following the Thomas Fire and January mudslides, and the exceptional work of […]

At this month’s Montecito Association Board of Directors meeting, Pat McElroy from the Partnership for Resilient Communities reported that his group funded another lidar radar flight over Montecito, which showed 71 sites in the foothills that would be appropriate for steel-wire ring nets to slow down or stop debris from falling. McElroy said they are […]