Fire Prevention

Your Mission Canyon Association is taking aggressive measures designed to reduce the consequences of the next Mission Canyon wildfire. We sponsor Evacuation Drills, Brush Clearance Days, Chipper Days, and secure funding for vegetation management clearance efforts throughout Mission Canyon. Will these efforts eliminate or reduce the risk of wildfire? The answer, unfortunately, is No.

But your personal efforts can make a difference between loss and survival. Maintaining a defensible space around your home, planning evacuation strategies, and working with your neighbors to create safer neighborhoods may make a vital difference to you and your loved ones, when the next fire comes through our Canyon.

Fire Resources

FireSafe Council of Santa Barbara County

The Firesafe Council of Santa Barbara County is a local non-profit organization with leadership drawn from fire agencies and wildland interface communities.  It is devoted to promoting  education, defensible space, and home hardening by providing resources and services such as the annual free chipping program.

Debris Flow & Flood Risk
Post-Fire Sedimentation & Flood Risk Potential
in Mission Creek Watershed
Bren School, UCSB, 2009 StudyThe recent fire above Montecito and subsequent tragic debris flow is a reminder that wildfires pose a threat to life and property both during and after the fire is extinguished.The attached is a study done as a group project by students at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management published prior to the Jesisita Fire.  It was a timely study, informed County and MCA’s response after the fire, and is an important study to recall for its’ mitigation recommendations. As and aside, important mitigation measures relevant today for MC are clearing sediment basins and removing debris from the channels.  Noted in the study is the fact that both Mission & Rattlesnake canyon debris basins are small compared to potential flow.  And I would note that these basins and the channels have not been cleared for some time.  Perhaps, before the rains we might ask for this to be done. 

Click here to connect to a web site which will provide the most up-to-date information available on wild fires in the area. Please read the articles on preparing for evacuation and helping your neighbors. We need to be ready yet hope we do not have to leave again.

Final Draft of the Mission Canyon Wildfire Protection Plan. (1.6MB)

With the installation of our two new RAWS, San Marcos and Refugio, here are some websites that will give you access to the weather observations that are updated hourly.

ROMAN site (desktop website gives access to all US RAWS (click on the map to see region specific RAWS. Scroll to South Coast to see our local stations on the front country):
http://raws.wrh.noaa.gov/roman/

NWS Mobile site (open with a desktop) which gives direction in adding their sites to a smartphone:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/lox/main.php?suite=public&page=mobile

The actual Mobile site (open with smart phone/tablet or a desk top):
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/lox/mobile/

And the Fire Weather Snooper site which color codes RAWS sites as they approach Red Flag conditions (also can be opened with a desk top or a smart phone/tablet):
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/lox/fire_weather/fm.php?mobile

Insurance claim processing help:

Local Mental Health Providers:

Miscellaneous Resources

MCA has constituted a resolution conflict mediation process specifically to assist neighbors who have not been able to settle disagreements growing out of one or both neighbor’s rebuilding plans, post Jesusita Fire. The service is completely voluntary; both parties need to agree to participate; and the results are non-binding. We hope that we can help resolve these conflicts quickly. Click here for Mediation Guide.