A Vision Beyond the Call of Duty

Firefighters do a lot more than fight fires. On any given day, Montecito Fire’s 33 active-duty firefighters wake up to uncertainty, not knowing what emergency they will respond to next: trail rescues, medical emergencies, traffic accidents, structure and brush fires, debris flows, or even threats of a global pandemic.

They are always there, and it is for this reason that we trust them with our lives. For the same reason, you can trust the Montecito Firefighters’ Charitable Foundation with your donations.

Being there in times of crisis for members of the community and its fire family was exactly why the Montecito Firefighters’ Charitable Foundation was created in 2006. The organization, whose board of directors is fully comprised of active-duty firefighters, was a spinoff of a benevolent fund created to raise funds for a firefighter who had cancer.

Their mission is to provide relief to the poor, disadvantaged, underprivileged, disaster victims, and those facing an emergency hardship. With a minimal annual overhead of less than $15,000 for legal, accounting, and other administrative costs, virtually every dollar the foundation receives goes straight towards helping people.

“It is truly our privilege to be able to offer financial relief to people in their time of need,” says Lucas Grant, a board member and a department Fire Engineer. “Many emergencies that people experience create financial emergencies right along with them.  We are able to ease the stress by assisting with that financial burden.”

As a charitable foundation, the Montecito Firefighters’ Charitable Foundation knows how to do one thing very well – issue responsive grants that deeply impact individuals.

When a wildland firefighter’s 2021 season was put on hold due to testicular cancer, the foundation provided support to him so he could focus on getting healthy. 

The foundation has also set up a scholarship fund to assist local youth in need, as well as firefighters’ children with college tuition.

Like I said, firefighters – notably, your local Montecito firefighters – do much more than fight fires. The work of the foundation mirrors the work that they do every day: responding to whatever comes their way.

For the charitable board, the work they do with the foundation is an extension of what they do every day on the engines. “As firefighters, we are often right there, on the scene of some of the most challenging emergencies in our community, but we also recognize that the emergency doesn’t end there. It is our aim to help people regardless of the circumstance in which their need arises,” says Alex Broumand, a founding board member and Fire Captain with the department.