Over the span of his 27-year career as a first responder, Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Garrett Huff has seen his fair share of animals in distress.
“Horses have been some of the most challenging animal rescues that I’ve been part of, not only because of their size but the situations they can get themselves into,” said Huff, who’s also come across the requisite cats stuck in trees.
None of his past experiences compare to a recent joint effort between the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, county Animal Services, and county Fire in Orcutt, Huff told the Sun.
“I have never seen a live bird in a grille before,” he said.
On Dec. 22, an Orcutt resident called county Animal Services after noticing a great horned owl lodged in their car’s radiator grille. The live owl’s head and wings popped out from the front side of the grille, which locked the bird into place.
“Animal control was on scene first and requested [county] Fire to respond to assist,” county Fire Department Public Information Officer Scott Safechuck told the Sun via email.
When firefighters arrived, they used tools to incrementally cut different parts of the grille to free the owl.
“While animal rescues aren’t part of our daily call volume, we do periodically assist with a wide range of situations involving animals,” Safechuck said, “including livestock, wildlife, and pets.”
Authorities aren’t sure how long the owl was trapped in the grille before being noticed, Safechuck explained in an X post about the rescue operation.
“It is unknown when the incident occurred and may have happened the previous day,” he posted.
After firefighters successfully removed the owl, the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network transported the injured bird to its Goleta office for a medical evaluation.
“Unfortunately, the owl’s injuries were too severe for any chance at recovery,” Britt Rickman, the network’s rehabilitation director, told the Sun via email on Dec. 24. “While it is always hard, we were able to relieve the owl from any further suffering.”
In 2025, the network received about 1,100 animal patients—including birds, mammals, and reptiles—that sustained injuries “due to car strike or suspected car strike,” Rickman said.
“It is rare for us to have an owl or other animal get stuck in the grille of a vehicle, but it does happen,” Rickman said. “We might only get a few calls a year where the animal is still in the grille and the reporting party calls us for help.”
This article appears in January 1 – January 8, 2026.