Santa Barbara Fire Department cites steady responses, mutual‑aid role and wildfire preparedness in 2025 report

The Santa Barbara Fire Department told the Fire & Police Commission that its crews responded to 11,982 calls for service across the city in 2025 and have maintained steady growth in call volume over the past five years. Brian Federman, the department’s operations division chief, said turnout times (the time from crew notification to starting response) averaged in the low 80‑second range and that average travel time across the city was about 4 minutes 30 seconds.

Federman highlighted training and prevention work: with 105 employees the department collectively logged more than 15,000 hours of internal training in 2025 and has made leadership development a priority. He said prevention staff performed plan checks and annual inspections as part of routine oversight; the presentation contained a reference to the number of inspections but the transcript of the presentation did not specify that figure.

The department emphasized its mutual‑aid role during statewide incidents. Federman said Santa Barbara personnel contributed about 13,000 mutual‑aid hours across 65 employees during notable fires, and the department recorded roughly $1.8 million in mutual‑aid reimbursement receipts. “The mutual aid system is designed not to negatively impact a community,” he said, adding that reimbursements and standard apparatus fees are intended to keep the home jurisdiction whole after deployments.

Fire personnel also reported fuel‑reduction and prevention work in designated high‑hazard areas: crews cleared roughly 14 miles of vegetation, conducted defensible‑space inspections and treated about 305 acres to reduce wildfire risk. Federman said the Office of Emergency Services ran an activation in February for storm work and that the city and county collaboratively redesigned evacuation zone mapping to improve clarity and exit routes.

Commissioners commended the department’s mutual‑aid contributions and asked clarifying questions about how reimbursements and backfill are processed. Federman said the state reconciliation process requires paperwork and that small administrative and apparatus service charges are applied as part of reimbursement accounting. The commission did not take formal action on the presentation; the item closed after questions.