By an edhat reader
[On Sunday] I passed a convoy of fire engines and a chipper and other vehicles from the Painted Cave Volunteer Fire Dept. going down East Camino Cielo. Does anyone know why or where the emergency response vehicles went? I thought they were currently inactive due to pending litigation/investigations?
Im guessing they were helping in gaviota, i have not heard they were “inactive”. That seems kinda stupid
You can visit them in Old Town Goleta.
I know somebody here on EdHat that LOVES chippers.
Well, I am glad to hear the residents of Painted Cave are protected by the Forest Service and the County. Times have changed and hopefully it works now. In 1964 they were also supposed to be covered by the Forest Service but no one was sent up because they were afraid they would be trapped. Hence, the residents after that fire decided to start their own volunteer fire department and get equipment to save their homes. Also, out of town firefighters didn’t know there were houses up there so lit backfires. Houses burned but luckily not all of them. We had friends living there who were part of the whole horrible situation. KEY-T had announced all the houses in Painted Cave had burned.
I’m guessing the Painted Cave residents all pitched in to buy their fire equipment. So, what is the point of leaving them unprotected, w/o their resources, because some volunteers took advantage and/or screwed up. Can anyone give a better understanding of all this? I remember the start of this volunteer fire crew after the 1964 Coyote Fire when the community was left to burn with no defense.