Op Area Coordinator/Other County Fire Agencies

Emergency Operations

Santa Barbara County Operational Area Coordinator

Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) acts as the Operational Area Coordinator for all fire agencies within Santa Barbara County. As the Op Area Coordinator, we are an extension of the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) which coordinates the statewide response of fire and rescue, and hazardous materials mutual aid resources to all hazards, emergencies, and disasters in cooperation with local, state, and federal fire and rescue agencies.

The goals stated in our Operational Area Mutual Aid Plan are as follows:

1. To provide, in an expedient manner, fire, rescue, emergency medical services, hazardous materials, urban search and rescue or other expertise in the form of resources and qualified personnel as would be necessary to manage a major incident or disaster that exceeds the capabilities of a single agency.

2. To provide a comprehensive and compatible plan for the expedient mobilization and response of available fire and rescue resources on a local and area basis.

3. To provide an annually updated fire and rescue inventory of all personnel, apparatus and equipment in Santa Barbara County.

4. To provide a communications plan and central communications point for the dissemination of fire and rescue-related data, directives, and information between fire and rescue officials of local, state, and federal agencies.

5. To promote annual training and/or exercises between plan participants and to act as a training tool to allow fire officers to become familiar with the mutual aid process and procedures.

Within the county, all fire agencies combined to provide auto/mutual aid a totaled of 1,435 times in 2019 and as a member of the statewide OES mutual aid system, SBCFD alone has assisted Cal OES 65 times in the last five years.

XSB Incident Management Team #3

The combination of limited resources & frequent large incidents has led to a strong auto and mutual aid culture which has led to the creation of regional response teams. XSB Incident Management Team #3 (XSB IMT #3) is made up of personnel from all local fire agencies and responds to all large-scale incidents in our county. XSB IMT #3 has been deployed to oversee and manage large scale incidents such as the Whittier Fire, the Cave Fire, the Gibraltar Fire and the 1/9 Debris Flow.

Area Coordination

USAR Regional Task Force #12

SBCFD is one of the 6 participating fire agencies in the county that comprise the California OES Regional USAR Task Force #12. Lompoc City FD, Montecito FPD, Santa Barbara City FD, Vandenberg AFBFD, Santa Maria City FD and SBCFD partner with fire agencies in Ventura County to contribute funding, equipment, personnel, and apparatus for training 12 times a year, and through a mutual aid agreement, respond to all technical rescue responses as requested.

Other County Fire Agencies

Within our Op Area, there are nine fire agencies that provide auto and mutual aid, not only to each other, but to the entire state in times of need. Those fire department are:

Need to know which fire department to contact when you need assistance with local requirements, permits or complaints? Our “Fire Protection District Map” is available for use by both private citizens and local businesses to assist in determining which local fire department is responsible for your specific location or the location where you are doing business.

Individual cities and fire departments have different requirements and business practices, so it is important to contact the correct “Authority Having Jurisdiction” (AHJ) when you need to contact your local fire department. This is important for companies such as fire protection systems service companies, tent installation companies, architects as well as other local businesses.

The map below allows you to zoom in to a location or you can enter the address you are searching for and the map will take you there.

Once you have accessed your desired location, simply click on the location and a pop-up will appear that tells you which local fire department is the AHJ for that location. You will also see a phone number which is the primary contact number for that fire department and a link labeled “More info” which will take you to that agency’s website.