Community remembers Montecito debris flow victims on three year anniversary
Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade
For the third anniversary of the 1/9 Debris Flow, and in consideration of the current pandemic stay-at-home order, a team of community partners hosted a commemorative live-stream ceremony on January 9th, 2021 in Montecito.
and last updated 2021-01-10 02:11:20-05
The 23 lives lost in mudslides that devastated the community of Montecito January 9, 2018 will never be forgotten.
Those lives were remembered and honored on the third anniversary of the debris flow Saturday night January 9th, 2021 during a commemorative live-stream ceremony.
The event began at 6:30 p.m. with an invocation from Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor.
Blake DeVine / NC3
MONTECITO, Calif. It’s been three years since Montecito residents woke up to a massive mudslide.
Not only did the devastating debris flow damage and destroy hundreds of homes but tragically, 23 lives were lost.
The mudslide was triggered after heavy rain hit the Thomas Fire burn scar, just weeks after the fire broke out.
Officials say the rainfall on that fateful night was 18 times more than necessary to cause a debris flow on the burned hillsides.
“I jumped out of bed, I looked out the window and there was this huge pulsing red light in the sky,” Bucket Brigade co-founder Abe Powell said. “It looked like the almighty had turned on a siren for all to see and I heard the sound of boulders.”