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Effort to protect Montecito High fire season has arrived
New debris basin designed to protect future residents from mudslides
Officials warn public of wildfire risk By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
County officials broke ground at the site of a new debris basin that will be installed along Randall Road and San Ysidro Creek in Montecito during an event Monday. Officials gathered to remember the 23 lives lost in the 2018 debris flow, expressing hope that the new basin will protect future residents from experiencing a disaster of that same magnitude.
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Santa Barbara County officials broke ground Monday on a debris basin project along Randall Road and San Ysidro Creek, beginning an effort intended to protect future Montecito residents from the devastating effects of mudslides. It’s been three years since the Montecito debris flow of Jan. 9, 2018, which claimed the lives of 23 residents and damaged many homes in the area. The former residents of Randall Road in Montecito were heavily impacted by the mudslide, and six of seven of the existing homes situated near San Ysidro Creek were destroyed in the disaster. Since that time, former residents have lobbied for the installation of a debris basin that would offer protection from future disasters. Their months of planning and lobbying came to fruition Monday when county officials met near the San Ysidro Creek Bridge to commemorate the start of the project. “Today’s groundbreaking is a result of our community’s commitment to come together and create solutions that minimize the horrific impacts (of) our next debris flow,” Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said Monday. “While not a silver bullet, the Randall Road debris basin will substantially increase our community’s safety.” The new debris basin will impede larger materials, like rocks and boulders, from moving down San Ysidro Creek, according to Tom McGolpin, the director of the County Public Works Department. Water and silt can still filter through the creek bed as the basin stops large rocks from tumbling into surrounding structures. The county received a $13.5 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in November 2020 to complete
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the project, which makes up the majority of the estimated $15.5 million to $17.5 million needed. A portion of those funds were used to purchase land from six former residents of Randall Road and one former resident of East Valley Road. The completion of the basin will mark the first significant infrastructure project that will be completed in Montecito in decades, Mr. McGolpin said. During Monday’s groundbreaking, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, commended the work of county officials and observed a moment of silence for the Montecito residents who died in the disaster. “We lost a lot of lives, homes and property on Jan. 9,” Rep. Carbajal said. “The best thing we could do moving forward in honoring their memory is to take action to protect our community from a similar disaster in the future. The Randall Road Debris Basin is key to this assurance. We know that climate change has exacerbated extreme weather events, so it is crucial we invest in projects like this that adapt our infrastructure to mitigate the future threats of climate change.” He later added, “I have no doubt that this critical investment in our safety and our resilience will pay dividends down the line.” The project, which will officially begin next Monday, is expected to be completed in December, according to Jon Frye, an engineering manager with the County Public Works Department. Currently, the property that was once filled with homes is barren and covered in large boulders left over from the mudslide. But when the project is finished, Mr. Frye said residents will notice changes to the appearance of the property. “There will certainly be physical changes within the property itself,” Mr. Frye told the News-Press. “We’re going to be planting some visual barriers, like trees, along the back of East Valley Road. Given some time, as vegetation can grow, when you’re talking five, 10 years out, it’s going
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to be more of a natural setting. It’s not going to be the stark visual that this certainly is (right now).” In addition to the many public officials in attendance at Monday’s groundbreaking, a few of the former residents of Randall Road made an appearance at the event. Montecito resident Curtis Skene addressed the crowd on Monday, expressing gratitude at seeing the debris basin finally coming to fruition. After Mr. Skene’s home was destroyed in the 2018 mudflow, he decided to do something to protect future Montecito residents from experiencing the same devastation. He began attending events and meeting with Public Works officials to propose a debris basin project near the site of his old home on Randall Road. Now that the project is coming together, Mr. Skene said the project “shows the strength of community activism and should be a model for what we can accomplish together.” “I’m a very lucky man,” Mr. Skene told the crowd. “First, because I just barely escaped the debris flow three years ago, and secondly because I’ve been able to do something, be part of something, to both heal and protect my community.” First District Supervisor Das Williams praised Mr. Skene and the other former residents of Randall Road for thinking of how to best protect their community in the face of devastation during his remarks at Monday’s events. “The neighbors provided an incredible example of how we need to learn as a community to react in a crisis,” Mr. Williams said. “They experienced great pain (and) devastation, and it would have been very understandable to focus and hold on to that pain and devastation. It would have been very understandable if they had thought about their long term financial benefit in it, but neither of those things seemed to be primary in the calculation. Primary in their calculation, I know this from talking to some of
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NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
them (and) from how rapidly this happened, was how to avoid other people experiencing the pain and devastation that we did.” email: mhirneisen@newspress.com
total to $1 billion when the state finalizes its budget. “This year is the first year that I’m aware of that they did augmentation funding at the beginning of the year,” Chief Hartwig told the News-Press. Funding usually comes at the end of fire season, and although the state has added “a little bit of extra money” the past three years, this year’s rollout is much more convenient. County Fire will be using the extra funds to send out more crews and respond to incidents aggressively. “Normally during normal fire season or low fire season, we’ll just send a fire engine with a chief officer. Now we’re sending five fire engines with our local partners, and air and heavy. So we’ll spend every last penny,” he said. Please see FIRE on A4
Rep. Carbajal introduces safe parking program bill By ANNELISE HANSHAW
“Today’s groundbreaking is a result of our community’s commitment to come together and create solutions that minimize the horrific impacts (of) our next debris flow,” Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said Monday. “While not a silver bullet, the Randall Road debris basin will substantially increase our community’s safety.”
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark A. Hartwig announces the beginning of fire season during a press conference Monday afternoon at the fire department’s headquarters.
Rep. Salud Carbajal wants to expand a Santa Barbara County program nationwide with the Naomi Schwartz Safe Parking Program Act. The bill would provide up to $5 million over a five-year period for cities to start or expand a safe parking program. He is proposing the bill alongside Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a republican from Richvale, California. “One: it’s a bipartisan issue. And two: I think it’s such a nobrainer program,” Rep. Carbajal said. “I think it has a huge chance of making it over the finish line sooner rather than later, and we’re hopeful that we can get over the finish line in this session and scale this program up.” The bill is named after former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Naomi Schwartz who championed the program locally. The Safe Parking Shelter and Rapid Rehousing Program, offered through New Beginnings, served 600 people last year. It offers a safe, monitored parking
spot overnight for homeless people to sleep in their own vehicles and use bathroom facilities. The program also helps homeless people find jobs, access benefits and acquire housing. The bill requires the grant recipients to provide services that help the homeless find housing and employment. Julie Bowen, a former participant in the program, spoke about how she was able to move from her car to an apartment. She, a former real estate broker, lost her house when her mom got sick, and her own health worsened. She lived in her car, barely getting sleep from the anxiety of being vulnerable. “I felt like I was in pure survival mode, and that made it impossible to work on things in my life that would have allowed me to move back into housing,” she said. New Beginnings staff helped her access a hotel room when the pandemic struck, and they assisted her in applying for a housing voucher and accessing Please see PARKING on A2
LOTTERY
i n s i de Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A4
First District Supervisor Das William addressed the crowd at Monday’s ground breaking event, commending former residents of Randall Road for their community mindset. “The neighbors provided an incredible example of how we need to learn as a community to react in a crisis,” Mr. Williams said.
High fire season is here, and it’s early this year. A plethora of officials gathered at Santa Barbara County Fire Department headquarters at noon Monday to warn the public about what may be a challenging season for fire departments. Santa Barbara County currently has 47% of its normal rainfall. At this time last year, the county had 90-95% of its expected rainfall. “The fuel (dry vegetation) that you see on the hillsides, and at this time already, about two months ahead of schedule, is able to carry fire,” Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark A. Hartwig said during a press conference. “So it’s a little bit early for us. “And we’re here to tell you: We’re ready, and we want you to be ready.” Fire officials measure the moisture in vegetation and look at the rainfall data to determine when the county reaches high risk. North County looks “decent,” according to Chief Hartwig. He notices drier conditions in southern and eastern areas of the county. Although a wildfire can break out anytime, the drier months are the most dangerous. “We call it high fire season today, but it’s a little bit of a fire season kickoff. And in fact, the state of California really is going to a year-round fire season in both staffing and funding,” he said. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a wildfire prevention bill April 13, supplying $536 million to fire departments ahead of fire season. Gov. Newsom plans to bring the
Sudoku................. B3 Sports ................... A3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 1-6-13-22-31 Mega: 13
Monday’s DAILY 4: 4-6-9-8
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 8-19-26-48-49 Mega: 5
Monday’s FANTASY 5: 3-17-18-30-31
Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 09-12-10 Time: 1:47.44
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 35-36-47-61-63 Meganumber: 3
Monday’s DAILY 3: 6-5-6 / Midday 9-1-3