Montecito Fire Department Guiding Documents

Comprehensive Wildfire Mitigation Strategy (2024)

The purpose of the Comprehensive Wildfire Mitigation Strategy is to consolidate the information and recommendations provided within the Montecito Community Wildfire Protection Plan (2016), Thomas Fire Retrospective Study (2018), and the Community Wildfire Protection Plan Amendment (2019). This strategy will identify the wildfire mitigation projects undertaken by the Department and provide guidance on project prioritization. 

The goal of the Montecito Wildfire Mitigation Program is to protect life safety and prevent community losses during a wildfire through increased efficiency of firefighting resources. 

Montecito Emergency Evacuation Study Update (2023)

The emergency evacuation study completed in 2022 for the Montecito Fire Protection District offered a detailed look at considerations for evacuations in Montecito to help expand the community’s preparedness to emergencies that require evacuation. The 2022 analysis tested two scenarios with phased evacuation of zones north of SR-192. The report recommended studying a more granular phased evacuation to determine if it could reduce congestion on the roadway network. This study uses a more granular phased evacuation with smaller draft evacuation zones to understand the changes to potential congestion impact of evacuating zones north of SR-192. This report documents the 2023 analysis results along with a comparison between the 2022 analysis and 2023 analysis to understand the effect of using smaller evacuation zones and evacuating smaller areas during the first phase of an evacuation. The results, as described throughout this report, show that more granular evacuation zones allow for evacuation of fewer people which results in less congestion on the roadway network than the 2022 analysis. 

Montecito Emergency Evacuation Study (2022)

This emergency evacuation study offers a detailed look at considerations for evacuations in Montecito to help the Montecito Fire Protection District (MFPD) expand the community’s preparedness to emergencies that require evacuation. This study is intended to supplement the Community Wildfire Protection Plan and offer recommendations, based on spatial analysis and traffic simulation, that can be used to address vulnerabilities related to traffic operations and community evacuation response. 

​Montecito Vegetation Management Program (2022)

The Montecito Fire Protection District (MFPD) proposes to implement the Montecito Vegetation Management Program (VMP), which is anticipated to occur over a 10-year timeframe. The VMP consists of the removal of vegetation and dead trees with chainsaws, chipping of cut and/or dead vegetation with chippers, roadside weed abatement with weed whips, hand removal of invasive plants, and prescribed herbivory throughout the wildland urban interface and along roads in the community of Montecito.

Strategic Plan (2022)

To complete the task of developing a fire department strategic plan, input was solicited from the public to obtain comments, concerns, and general information from involved citizens throughout the community. The community input was conducted as an online survey and a total of 889 persons completed the entire survey. Survey instruments were utilized to gather input. All questions and responses are available for review at the District offices. Public input is a critical component of the strategic planning process and is necessary in order to understand the expectations of the community in regards to fire department services. The elected and appointed officials of Montecito Fire Protection District would like to thank the individuals that participated in the public input session for the open and candid comments presented.

In March 2022, Montecito Fire Protection District convened a strategic planning committee comprised of fire department administrative and line personnel to review the community input and develop goals and objectives to carry the Department through the next five years. Information gained through the public input survey, along with internal expertise and external recommendations and guidance, was used to develop this strategic planning document.  

Community Wildfire Protection Plan Amendment (2019)

The Thomas Fire and subsequent debris flow significantly altered the fire environment within the Montecito Community Wildfire Protection Plan planning area. These changed conditions prompted the need to review and amend the original 2016 CWPP. The amendment does not replace the existing CWPP, it identifies the changes the events of 2017 had within the planning area and incorporates the new information gathered during the retrospective study. 

Thomas Fire Retrospective Study (2018)

The objective of this document is to review the actions of the Montecito Fire Protection District (District) in the years leading up to the fire as well as actions that took place under the guidance of the Incident Management Team prior to and during December 16th to better understand how these actions influenced the positive outcomes associated with the defense of Montecito. While assessing the District’s wildfire program, this report also provides recommendations as to how the District might build on these past successes given the new environmental conditions that the Thomas Fire and ensuing debris flow have created across the community. 

Community Wildfire Protection Plan (2016)

The Montecito Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is the result of a community-wide planning effort to quantify and evaluate the wildfire threat to Montecito, and develop mitigation strategies that enhance protection of human life safety and the community’s values from wildfire.  It meets the requirements of the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act, and positions the District well to compete for state and federal grants.  This plan incorporates the latest wildfire science and wildfire analyses tools with information from previous plans including the 1998 Montecito Community Fire Protection Feasibility Study and the 2014 Citygate Standards of Coverage Study and Risk Assessment Report.