Central Coast and southern California firefighters rally together to collect donations for Ukraine

MONTECITO, Calif. – Firefighters from the three Central Coast counties are working with other fire departments in southern California to collect donations to send to Ukrainian firefighters overseas.

Santa Barbara City Fire Captain Isaac Siegel took the lead on the effort to collect supplies on the South Central Coast, and agencies from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties all stepped up quickly to gather donations, said Montecito Fire spokeswoman Christina Favuzzi.

The effort is part of Project Joint Guardian, which is a nationwide program to send firefighting and rescue equipment to first responders in Ukraine, Favuzzi added.

A crew of Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Carpinteria-Summerland firefighters traveled to San Diego on Tuesday, picking up supplies from other fire departments along the way.

They will return to Santa Barbara on Wednesday afternoon, and Direct Relief International will inventory the items and then ship them to Ukraine, Favuzzi said.