Back in December, the Thomas Wildfire which was the biggest wildfire in California history,
rolled through the Santa Barbara area and Santa Barbara County was uniquely affected
by it.
After those fires, since all the ground cover had been destroyed, the first rainstorm that
we had come through sent devastating mudslides through the community of Montecito.
As a mudslide came down and blocked the freeway, destroyed homes, killed 20 people so far,
there's still people missing.
This has just been a terrible tragic event for this community and they're really hurting
right now.
When these officers go out, they see the same folks day in and day out.
We go down and we have coffee with people down in Montecito and Coast Village Road.
We know the communities of Summerland because we have breakfast there and we sit down at
the table and share a meal.
So when tragedy like this happens, it's like it's happening to our own family.
Can you imagine really, a family dealing with a hospice situation with a loved one and this
crisis, this disaster, comes through and interrupts all of that, what is normally a very peaceful
and dignified process all of a sudden now, it's been turned upside down.
Our employees, wanted so much, to get here and to make sure that we could provide the
care that we needed to our patients.
If you could imagine, that looked normal like all this here looks, and then when we first
went up there and saw those rocks and trees and how devastated that area was, it looks
completely different than it used to look.
It's unrecognizable now.
On the news, the first day I couldn't get here, but on the news I was watching them
film out of the driveway where I let their kids sit on my motorcycle.
And I was like, I mean I couldn't get to work that day, and it bothered me, that you know,
those kids that were sitting on my motorcycle, I hope they're ok.
This is devastating to us too, because this is our community, these are our community
members that we lost.
So you know, yeah absolutely, take that time to grieve, be there for one another, but always
remember hope, never lose hope.
Scott and I just wanted to come down and just check in and say thanks.
It's a devastating mess, but as usual everybody with the CHP is doing a great job and I appreciate
everything that all of you are doing.
Well, I think the vibe is that we're gonna recover and we're gonna help.
And whatever that takes and whatever that means at this point.
The morale is incredible.
The officers in this area have banded together and made the community their own.
So when it affects the community, it affects us.
I've heard it said many times, it takes a community, and this community has pulled together
to now begin to recover and to kind of rehab if you will.
And I think a part of the way we do that naturally as individuals and as a community is to help,
to reach out beyond ourselves and to help and I think that is bringing some healing
along with it.
Right now, we're currently doing escorts of essential services.
So we're escorting in the people that are on dialysis and they need the services of
the registered nurses who run the dialysis machines.
We're escorting air traffic controllers through so the airport can keep running.
Nurses and doctors for Cottage Hospital, teachers
And we're escorting these people in by the bus loads, so everybody that's coming in is
in some way affecting a positive change into the community.
We're all used to seeing the words "to protect and to serve" on the side of law enforcement
vehicles and I can't think of a better example of protecting and serving than what the California
Highway Patrol has done.
The CHP stepped up very quickly and they have escorted a van and a car in full of caregivers,
every single day, twice a day, helping us get through, get in to where our caregivers
can get out to see the patients and care for them.
Today, we have 145 employees coming each way twice a day with a CHP escort.
So again, to get back to that kind of normal, this is what's gonna happen.
We're back, we're taking care of you and your loved one.
It really has helped.
I know that this community will persevere, they're extremely resilient, and they'll come
back together even stronger as we rebuild after this incident.