Rescue crews at the Montecito mudslides described they saw when they first arrived on scene at the Montecito mudslides January 9 during a community meeting Tuesday.
Matt Ferris, the Santa Barbara Fire Department Incidents Operations Chief, first arrived in Montecito just after 3 a.m. He drove down the coast, hitting a wall of water on Highway 101. After he called to shut down the highway, he continued into Montecito. As he drove, he said he saw flashes in the air as burning homes glowed.
He stopped at Sandy Cedar Road, crawled out of a totaled vehicle, and ran the mudslide incident from there.
"I do not know how I made it through that," said Ferris. "It was truly a miracle."
Ferris said ground and air troops were immediately deployed. He said single ground operator made eight trips out mudslide-ravaged neighborhoods, carrying groups of 30 on his vehicle at a time.