Our Mission
Mission Statement
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department serves and safeguards the community from the impacts of fires, medical emergencies, environmental emergencies, and natural disasters through leadership, planning, education, prevention, code enforcement, and all-hazard emergency response.
Vision Statement
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department will be a model public safety agency, widely recognized for our effectiveness, regional strength, and community attentiveness.
Core Values
Commitment – Courage - Integrity - Innovation - Teamwork - Service
Our County FireFighters in Action
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Are You Ready? The 2010 fire season is here!
Fire can be a year-round threat here in Santa Barbara County.
Learn the steps you can take to safeguard your home year-round in this informative video.
Protect your Home from Wildfire!
Learn more about how you can Prepare for Fire Season!
Being prepared for the next wildfire means taking the personal responsibility to protect yourself, your family, and your property. The most critical person in preparing and protecting your life and property is not the firefighter, but you, the property owner.
In order to reduce this potential and as a part of the Department’s Defensible Space and Hazard Reduction program the Santa Barbara County Fire Department sends notices to abate fire hazards to the owners of all properties in county fire jurisdiction that potentially pose a fire hazard. These notices indicate the start of yearly weed abatement requirements.
It is not a matter of “if” another wildfire will occur in our area, but “when”.
Learn more about how to protect your home from wildfire.
Fire Resistive Construction Recommendations
Houses protect people if people protect houses!
It is very important to realize that although no (livable!) house is fire proof, there are steps you can take to make it a lot more fire-safe! Some changes can be done very quickly and inexpensively. Others may require more effort, expense, and in some cases professional help.
In conjunction with your Wildfire Action Plan, we suggest you visit the California Homeowner's Wildfire Mitigation Guide (while visiting the guide click on “Decks, “Fences”, “Garages” or one of the other titles for more information). This site includes recommendations for Fire Resistive Construction in addition to home improvements, repairs, additions and maintenance.
These two additional links have information about your roof or other vulnerable parts of your home and include information on other possible problems and solutions that can make your home a safer refuge during a wildfire.
These recommendations are in compliance with County and State Building and Fire Codes and are offered with permission by the University of California Cooperative Extension.
Additionally, CALFIRE provides the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Products guide to give homeowners and building officials a list of “compliant WUI products”, for retrofit and new construction building materials that are approved for use in our High Fire Hazard Zones. Please visit the CALFIRE web site web for updates and other related information.
Residential Safety Survey
Please use this Residential Safety Survey as a guide to help you improve the fire resistive features of your home, maintain your defensible space and insure our ability to access your home in an emergency. We encourage you to phone or visit your neighborhood County Fire Station crew to invite them to come by and help you assess the safety of your home and possibly identify no-cost or low-cost ways to improve your family’s safety during a wildfire. This is a no-cost service to our communities.
Red Flag Warnings
A Red Flag Warning in your area means that the combinations of terrain, weather and fuel moisture are at hazardous levels and could lead to rapid or dramatic increases in wildfire activity. Be prepared!
The Red Flag Warning Plan utilizes available Santa Barbara County Fire Department forces, cooperating fire agencies, citizen groups, and the news media to inform the public of high fire danger, the potential for a major wildfire, and the need to be aware of and exercise fire safe practices during these periods.
