Fatal crash victim identified
ORCUTT — The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Coroner’s Bureau has identified the victim from Saturday’s single-vehicle rollover crash as 44-year-old Marcus Irving, of Santa Maria.
The crash was reported around 7:15 a.m. near State Route 135 and Graciosa Road south of Orcutt.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
— Mitchell White
Pilot, plane recovery underway
Members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department took to the water off Campus Point at UCSB on Thursday to begin recovery efforts for the pilot and plane that crashed into the ocean on Sunday.
Local law enforcement was assisted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau, a National Park’s Ocean Ranger and the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Blackfin, according to Raquel Zick, sheriff’s spokeswoman.
The Coast Guard on Monday transferred its command to the Sheriff’s Office for a missing person investigation. The dive team members can dive to depths of 300 feet, Ms. Zick said.
Divers were searching for a Cessna 182 Skylane and its sole occupant, Deborah Nicholson, 61, of the Lake Tahoe area.
The plane lost communications with the Santa Barbara Airport tower at 7:09 a.m. on Sunday. Deputies responded to the area of Goleta Beach with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, a County Air Support helicopter, a Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol boat and a Coast Guard cutter and helicopter.
They found oil sheen and debris approximately two miles from the coast.
— Mitchell White
Fire personnel return from deployment
The Santa Barbara County XSB Urban Search and Rescue Regional Task Force have returned from deployment to the North Complex Fire in Northern California.
The team of firefighters from the county’s operational area were assigned to search the remnants of homes destroyed by the fire for human remains. Members used Alternative Respiratory Protection Devices, which filter out toxic particles and allow firefighters to breath clean air while working in unhealthy environments, according to a news release.
The ARPDs were provided through a partnership between the Santa Barbara County Firefighters Union Local 2046, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and funded by the Santa Barbara Firefighters Alliance. The protection is the first of its kind to be provided to all county firefighters and is used on wildland fires, search and rescue deployments and COVID-19 related emergencies, authorities said.
A Utility Terrain Vehicle, provided by Goleta-based Direct Relief International and the Santa Barbara County Firefighters Alliance, was also used during the assignment. The vehicle was initially donated for use during the Montecito debris flow, but now assists with search and rescue operations, according to officials.
“The Santa Barbara County Fire Department is proud to outfit all safety members with an ARPD and to have a UTV as standard inventory for USAR deployments,” said Capt. Daniel Bertucelli, fire spokesman. “We are extremely thankful to our generous partners who continue to support our local and statewide firefighting efforts.”
— Mitchell White
Final striping in sidewalk project
GOLETA — The final striping work for the newly repaved Old Town sidewalk project in Goleta is scheduled for today.
In order to complete the restriping, parking will be restricted and limited within the project limits. No parking signs will be removed when the striping is complete and dry for vehicles to travel on, according to city officials.
Residents are asked to not re-park in these areas until signs have been removed to avoid tracking wet paint.
The remaining work is a few infill locations around utilities. The city’s contractor will re-mobilize later to complete the remaining concrete patches once the utility companies – Southern California Edison, Frontier Communications, and Cox Communications – have relocated their utilities. The utility companies are currently anticipating to complete the work in October, but could be delayed pending utility workload and SCE priority emergency work that arises.
Additional project information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/GoletaOTSW.
— Mitchell White
