Santa Barbara has a chance to ask fire questions and hear about agencies’ preparedness from County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig in an online Zoom meeting set for Tuesday, January 28, starting at 5 p.m. To attend, sign up here.
County Supervisor Laura Capps, who organized the meeting, said residents can email their questions for Chief Hartwig in advance to daguirre@countyofsb.org. Her office has already received many inquiries asking about preparing properties, such as tree removal and hardscaping homes, but also questions about evacuation planning and preparedness. These and more will be answered by the chief on Tuesday.
Santa Barbara remains under the same threat of fire that continues to affect Los Angeles County. The latest wildfire to erupt was the Hughes Fire in the hills northeast of Castaic. After bursting into flame on Wednesday morning in high wind conditions, the fire prompted evacuations in both Ventura and Los Angeles counties. As smoke from the fire billowed across Interstate 5, the state’s largest roadway closed for several hours. More than 10,000 acres have burned with the fire 56 percent contained as of Friday morning. The Eaton and Palisades fires remain contained but smoldering, with 16,000 structures destroyed and thousands still under evacuation.
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