During Firefighter Appreciation Month Santa Barbara and SLO Counties Record No Names Lost
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – The California Fire Foundation and the state legislature have designated October as Firefighter Appreciation Month.
This year’s public memorial will once again honor our fallen heroes.
The California Fire Foundation has programs in place to support any responders or their families, throughout the state of California.
“Being a firefighter is dangerous,” says Brian K. Rice, president of the California Fire Foundation. “It can be deadly. It’s dirty.”
Starting with the Palisades and Eaton fires, 2025 has seen a higher level of wildfire activity than usual, all across the state.
“The number of calls is up there,” says Rice. “We’ve had 7200 wildfires this year to date. We’ve had 31 fatalities.”
On Saturday in Sacramento, a public ceremony will honor the lives of 30 fallen firefighters from California who have died in the line of duty, adding their names to the memorial wall.
“40 million people live in the state of California,” says Rice. “Our natural resources and our wildland area is always under constant, constant stress.”
Officials from the fire departments in Santa Barbara and SLO counties say they will not be adding any names, which is certainly a good thing for our Central Coast communities.
“Any time a fire department gets through the year without having a line of duty death, that’s a win,” says Rice. “But I will tell you, the California firefighters memorial is a living memorial because at this point in time, there will not be a year that passes in my lifetime that we don’t add a firefighter’s name to that wall.”
Saturday’s memorial service is open for public attendance, and will stream live on multiple platforms.
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