RogerUpdate by Santa Barbara City Fire Department
5:45 p.m., January 25, 2019
Firefighters are on scene at the Douglas Family Preserve for a cliffside rescue. Resources are 3 engine companies a truck company and heavy rescue company and a Battalion Chief. Santa Barbara Police Department is also assisting.
Please remember anytime you are walking in the preserve or near cliff-sides to stay away from the edge.
Reported by Roger the Scanner Guy
5:16 p.m., January 25, 2019
Cliff Rescue in the 2400 Block of Mesa School Lane subject on the cliff.
Full SB City and Batt: Captain 714 responding with SBPD 2400 Block of Mesa School Lane at Douglas Family Preserve.
Changing channels on me so if someone hears it feel free to report it.
Can hear sirens all the way at Foothill and San Roque Road. Does that make sense that fire response would come from so far away?
Subject reported as a male on the cliff..
Subject aprox. 200 feet up on the ledge..
There is a crowd on the cliffs above him subject is acting erratic…
Verbal contact with the subject..
Yes , that’s County Engine 15 from Mission Cyn. responding to Hendry’s mutual aid since it’s a county park.
Subject is holding a red piece of paper.
Setting up ropes and lights where the logs cross the road in the preserve.
Alot of responders on scene.
Requesting CARES…I hope they get there soon.
Thanks TAGDES…
I was wondering why I was hearing a lot of sirens heading up to the Mesa….
Checking the Hendry’s parking lot for the possible subjects’ vehicle from Carp. who may be suffering from some issues he said he would deal with in Santa Barbara.
SUBJECT IS CLIMBING UP THE CLIFF TOWARD POLICE.
Subject on top now.
Subject is safe and secure on the top Units can clear TADGES Thank You for your help…
I’m sure glad he did not jump.
You’re welcome. Glad they talked him back up.
Me too I was on the edge of my seat for awhile there…
Whewww. After reading these comments, I wish that I could go back in time, and have a couple of “stiffies” at Pasqual’s to calm down. That Mr. Pasqual Gamboa sure knew how throw down a drink. Glad to hear the gent on the cliffs is ok.
I don’t think it was overkill There was mutual aide with county because that’s a county park per what TAGDES said below…A full City Fire response on a cliff rescue is a requirement they do it on rollover traffic accidents too. Different engines have different equipment. Hook and Ladder might have been used it just happened it wasn’t needed…Only 5 PD Units? Crowd control on the cliffs and on the beach officers to keep people back..Negotiator to talk the man down. Plus the man had possibly committed a crime earlier in the day I don’t think it’s overkill at all..Every responder there played a part in the rescue.
Let’s hope he gets the help he needs to lend his life meaning.
Build the fence!
We need a 10-foot fence all along the Mesa top to protect our vulnerable citizens from the siren song of seaview suicide. (See Cold Springs fence for design details….)
We live in hard times and turmoil. For those who are particularly vulnerable to believing things will always be the way they are, it’s easy to lose hope. The reality is things may get better or worse but can’t ever stay the same. Hate contracts people and love expands them. The first has a limit (extinction), the second doesn’t.
It’s fine if lots of police and fire folk show up for something like this. If another emergency occurs elsewhere, they can peel off and go to that. No harm done.
How does it take five fire trucks including the hook and ladder and five police cars( several of the cars showed up later with their flashing lights racing to the scene ) that I counted to rescue a suicidal person they jeopardize our complete public service for somebody else In need and why so many vehicles and people for one incident?
@0044 How many people would you want helping if it was for a member of your family? Remember when people call 911 with their cellphones they can end up sending out the emergency calls to different First Responders so that is how so many show up. A cliff rescue at night is dangerous for everyone so the more help the better. Remember they saved a life with all their efforts and that is truly what matters.
You’re just annoyed because there were more first responders than there is punctuation in your ridiculous sentence. Try not to take someone’s mental health crisis response so personally next time.
How many police have been shot, and/or killed during a ‘routine traffic stop’ (such as for a tail/brake light being out)? And, they can’t always see that ‘just’ Grandma is in the car. I always say a prayer for everyone’s safety, when I see someone pulled over.
Hendry’s parking lot may be County, but The Wilcox is 100% City Park.
Nanny us NOT! Life is dangerous and no one gets out alive. No fences, no new laws.
If you do not believe there should have been the number of responders that showed up for this call get yourself a scanner and the next time something like this happens Go Watch. Thinking is one thing seeing is another…
In regards to criticizing the number of emergency responders: I was there, on the beach, when the good citizen called 911 to report the guy on the cliff. There were a lot of us on the beach as it was sunset. I imagine the police/fire was preparing to evacuate the beach below where he might fall, plus crowd control on the beach and the parking lot. They also needed crew at the top– Douglas Preserve. Thank God this guy didn’t jump and a big thank you to the woman that called for help.
I still remember the phrase about ‘safety in numbers’, which is why I am concerned with safety when I see a lone police officer pulling over a car for what may indeed be a routine traffic stop. No matter who appears to be driving. As far as rescuing someone. That can be difficult when the person is cooperative. Even more so when they want to harm themselves. They may think nothing of other people’s safety. I would much rather see them show up in large numbers, and reduce them as they work out the problem and decide what is actually needed, than have them need to call for more personnel, and/or equipment, and wait. Sometimes there isn’t time for waiting, when a person’s life is at stake. And, it isn’t as though a fire unit, ambulance, or police car can’t go somewhere else quickly if things change, and they are needed elsewhere more.
I’m sure they will take your feedback into account next time…because your professional training with emergency response is? I wish the armchair warriors could know how ridiculous they sound.
Sorry, I agree with the people who think the fire and police response is OVERKILL. Big time. One, maybe two trucks could handle it. And how many cops do you need? They clearly aren’t doing their job on other crime related things when that many cops show up. I see this in routine traffic stops too. Two or three cars to stop Grandma. CoME ON! This is too much.
Actually the Co. Park encompasses more than just the parking lot and having worked with County Fire while at County Roads I can assure you that both City and County Fire are aware of who owns Wilcox. However when dispatched as mutual aid as in this case and countless calls along Modoc, Tunnel or Gibraltar Rds., Even Foothill, just to name a few they don’t argue as you are appearing to but release unneeded resources from the other jurisdictions first. Also this appeared to be a life or death situation which could well have needed all the personnel responding as they could not wait for Search and Rescue.
One of the reasons other “agencies” show up is for training purposes, where the rescue can be observed by those who have not been involved in, let’s say, a night time cliff rescue of an unstable subject.