Montecito Fire Station 3
updated: Oct 12, 2012, 11:58 AM

Source: Montecito Fire Protection

STATION 3 !

A third fire station in Montecito's east end is on the horizon and I would like to give a little overview and history of the project thus far. Before I do, I would like to introduce myself as your newly appointed Fire Chief.

My name is Chip Hickman. I was appointed to the position of Fire Chief on June 1st of this year. I have 30 years of experience delivering emergency services. My first responder career started on an ambulance in Ventura County followed by six years as a Paramedic in Santa Barbara; I've now been a licensed Paramedic for 28 years. In 1990 I started my career with Montecito Fire Protection District as one of its first Paramedic Firefighters. More recently I was the initial Incident Commander on the Tea Fire and was assigned as a Structure Protection Group Supervisor on the Jesusita Fire. I am also on the board of Fire District's Association of California (FDAC). That is some of my history, but let me get to what I'd really like to talk about: the Station Three project.

The vision of a third fire station on the east end of the district has been a plan of the District's for more than 20 years. We are committed to protecting you, your property and the environment. We all know that residential growth on the east end is possible, and is already part of the Montecito Community Plan. The District's mission is to deliver professional and timely emergency services to the current and future needs of the community. The addition of Station 3 addresses the areas in eastern Montecito that do not currently meet our response standards, and supports the community's long term plan.

Land acquisition will not get any less expensive, more available or less contentious in the future. The extensive site study (Available on our web site www.montecitofire.com) performed by the District in 2007 identified 14 possible sites. Of these 14 properties, there were only two sites that met the majority of essential and desirable criteria; both being on the Jackson Ranch. The proposed location is directly across the street from 2349 East Valley Rd. It is ideal because of location, size and the fact that it has very few neighbors in close proximity. Additionally, this location was the only location that had the closest thing to a willing seller. The parcel is 2.55 acres of a much larger existing parcel. Currently, the property is used as a lemon orchard but has been zoned Residential 2-E-1 for many years.

An Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has been completed and certified for the property. The project has been reviewed by the Montecito Association's Land Use Committee four times prior to going to the Montecito Board of Architectural Review (MBAR). The MBAR gave conceptual approval with Board Member Sam Maphis stating, "I would want this to be an exhibit of how people should design their properties". Our next presentation will be to the Montecito Planning Commission on October 24th.

The challenge we now face is a law suit that has been filed by an entity recently formed by the owner of property directly across the street from the proposed fire station site. The entity is called the "Montecito Agricultural Foundation." The Foundation's complaint is that the EIR was procedurally flawed. The District's counsel feels very strongly that the law suit is without merit and that the EIR was processed properly, and we are more than willing to address any issues if it is determined to need additional attention.

We understand and are sensitive to neighbor concerns regarding views, aesthetics, or diminution in value and want to minimize any negative impacts the introduction of a fire station in that area may cause.

However, the District has experienced these same concerns from neighbors in the past, with both of our other station developments. I am unaware of any neighbor suffering ill effects from our existing fire stations and a few have even expressed to me that they enjoy our presence. Regardless, the law suit exists and it is costing the District tens of thousands of dollars per month to defend the EIR.

Over the past seven years the District's governing board and staff have put aside the funds to fully pay for the purchase of the land, the estimated construction costs of the fire station, and a new fire engine. It is our intention to absorb its annual costs for maintenance and staffing within the allocated revenues we receive. What this means to you is more service at no additional cost to the tax payer.

Your taxes will not increase and no fees will be assessed to build and equip this new fire station. The following bullet points address the justifications for the addition of a third station:

• The east end of the District has emergency response times in excess of the 5 minute standard.
• Brain cells start to die without oxygen after 5 minutes.
• Structure fires will develop from an incipient fire to a fully involved single room fire within 4 minutes (see video at www.montecitofire.com). Minutes matter.
• Response time to the Bella Vista area can be as much as 12 minutes currently and would be reduced to 5-6 min. A 6 minute delay could be the difference between an offensive or a defensive approach to a wildland fire.
• It is reasonable to expect a structure fire to be well involved by the time we currently arrive on scene in eastern end of the District. If it can be caught early, it has a greater chance of keeping it to a room and contents fire. A third station would also increase the chance of survivability for the occupants.
• The east end residents would be provided response times equal to the rest of the District.
• Home owners on the east end of the District may benefit from lower insurance premiums due to the closer proximity of a fire station.
• A third station improves overall fire response and protection throughout the entire District by increasing the weight (number of firefighters and engines) and speed of the fire attack.
• A third station reduces our dependency on mutual aid resource assistance by 50% on an initial structure fire response.
• The proposed location would be a much more efficient response to freeway incidents.
• The training component included in the new station is something our District desperately needs. Training is absolutely vital to delivering the best emergency service. Currently we are dependent on privately owned property to accomplish training.
• The size of the property enhances our ability to park and store the equipment needs of the District.

We'd like to hear your opinion on this issue.

Email us at: Station3@montecitofire.com

Or write us:
Station 3 Input
c/o Montecito Fire Protection District
595 San Ysidro Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93108

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 330704	2012-10-12 12:41 PM
Montecito Agricultural Foundation - is either Craig McCaw or the Valley Club. Id wager to say its McCaw.
COMMENT 330709	2012-10-12 01:00 PM
My issue with this is that it has not been that long since the last, brand new firehouse was built. When that one was built, there were no plans for another - i.e., it was supposed to be large enough to deal with much of Montecito. Now, with another station, we've got simply too much service available for not enough service needed. Firefighters are EXPENSIVE. Will the number of firefighters employed at existing stations be reduced to equalize supply and demand if this fire station is built? Or will taxpayers be stuck with the bill of employing more firefighters than we need?
COMMENT 330715P	2012-10-12 01:11 PM
Really? Did you read the article? Just about every sentence you wrote contradicts something written in the article.
COMMENT 330726P	2012-10-12 01:37 PM
It's hard to argue with Chip's assessments of the improvements a third fire station will provide to Montecito. The east end residents will certainly get quicker response times, and that is never a bad thing. The thing you need to be asking is, how many calls for service does the MFD respond to annually? (this is public information and is available) True emergencies, i.e., medical, traffic accident, fire, etc... not security gates malfunctioning, resetting burgular/fire alarms, bats in the attic, and the like. Now, divide the total number of calls by 365 days per year and you might be in for an interesting surprise.
COMMENT 330731	2012-10-12 01:47 PM
726P - Can you provide us with the answer to your question?
COMMENT 330740	2012-10-12 02:01 PM
What good is an extra fire station going to do? The article acknowleges the importance of rapid response but ground crew firefighters responded rapidly to the Tea and Jesuita fires and they were unable to put retardant on those fires for hours. In the last 5 years hundreds of homes have been lost to fires that were allowed to burn for hours or days before ground crews began to fight them. What good does it do for ground crews to respond to a fire a few minutes faster if they stand around for hours and watch it burn?
COMMENT 330789P	2012-10-12 04:19 PM
They still haven't explained why this station has to be larger than the main headquarters station. Chief Hickman says he needs a new station to have 5 minute response to the east end, but if you look at the plan, he doesn't intend to put a paramedic there because they can't afford it. So, how about having a smaller fire station and paying for a paramedic? That's who needs to get there quickly. How about having smaller trucks that can maneuver on Montecito's narrow roads, that cuts down response time too. Why does Montecito needs it's own training center, why not use the regional training center which is near East Beach in Santa Barbara - not very far from Montecito. I guess they feel they have money so why not spend it? Montecito Fire District's budget is $16 million or 2 stations, Santa Barbara City's budget is $22 million for 8 stations. Something just doesn't make sense.
COMMENT 330938	2012-10-13 11:07 AM
Spend then tax.
FLICKA	2012-10-13 11:16 AM
I believe the tax money to support the Montecito Fire district comes from Montecito. Santa Barbara is a whole different ballgame. Firemen saved my brother's house in the Jesusita. The Tea went with such lightening speed from the horiffic winds, a ground crew could have been toast in most cases. Basically, they get in to save the homes they safely can. And then, there are the individual house fires, not in a wildfire situation.
COMMENT 330973	2012-10-13 12:53 PM
Clearly you people can't read. The information indicates that the money for this project is already saved. They aren't trying to "tax later" and I don't recall ever seeing Montecito having extra taxes or assessments for fire protection. (Like we do in Santa Barbara). If Montecito residents want to continue complaining about the amount of money their FD has in their budget, I'd love to see them redistribute some of that money to my fire department ! We have to deal with CUTS and staff REDUCTIONS to our service, and here they are trying to INCREASE the services for their people...I guess the 1%ers are never happy.
COMMENT 331011P	2012-10-13 02:12 PM
I am not a fire official so have no idea if another station is needed in Montecito. But I do know there is a vacant 14 acre piece of land on San Antonio Creek Rd in the county. Over here in our high fire hazard area we would welcome you with open arms! Id take fire station over subdivision any day....
COMMENT 331405	2012-10-15 07:48 AM
330789P: "They still haven't explained why this station has to be larger than the main station. "I would have to wonder if you are working with Craig McCaw and Joe Cole who are suing MFD over Station 3, because they bring these benign talking points up regularly. McCaw uses covers like these kinds of "Foundations" and "Trusts" so his name isn't associated with the real issue he has against the project - NIMBY. I am informed on the issue. (No, I do not work there, but I talk regularly with many people envolved) This issue has been discussed at SEVERAL meetings about the new station. The new fire station contains a training component that adds to the square footage of the project because the firefighters have no place in the district to train for many of the skills you expect them to have. If they didn't have the space or the funding to build this component into the facility, it might be worth questioning - but they DO have the space, and the funding for it IS ALREADY SET ASIDE.
COMMENT 331412	2012-10-15 08:32 AM
330789P: "How about having smaller trucks that can maneuver on Montecito's narrow roads, that cuts down response time too." The idea of having smaller engines might sound smarter for the tight roads that don't conform to State code requirements, but that won't help during a wildland fire when the rest of the fire engines coming from all over the state are normal sized fire engines. Additionally, a smaller engine would also have less room to store the equipment needed to fight fires in the larger 10,000-30,000 square foot mansions that are common place in Montecito.
COMMENT 331475	2012-10-15 10:42 AM
If the Montecito residents (and Board candidates) want to reduce the MFD operating budget, how about a little redistribution to the County for them to use in their underserved areas…SB City, and Carp/Summerland would probably love to have some of those funds too. Why do you insinuate they should cut their budget when cuts aren't needed and great service is provided? MFD works within the funds they are allotted. No extra fees, assessments or taxes. Just the 16% of the basic property tax they have been receiving since Prop. 13 was passed.

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