Santa Barbara County’s top firefighter is going to retire. Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig will step down at the end of the year.
Hartwig’s career spans more than three decades. He started as a firefighter with the San Bernardino County Fire Department in 1992, and after a detour with another agency, he returned to become San Bernardino County’s Fire Chief.
In 2019, he became Santa Barbara County’s Fire Chief.
He’s led the agency through a number of emergencies, like the Alisal Fire in 2021 and the Lake Fire in 2024. Hartwig is well known and respected in the field, serving as President of the California Fire Chef’s Association. He’ll retire at the end of the year.
