After five days of scouring the Santa Barbara County coastline, authorities have suspended the search for missing Vandenberg Air Force Base firefighter Sean Fleming.
“Our condolences go out to Sean’s family and friends,” 30th Space Wing commander Col. Richard Boltz said in a press release on June 25. “Team Vandenberg will continue to support them during this extraordinarily difficult time.”
The base announced in a June 29 press release that there will be a memorial service for Fleming on July 1 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Assumption Church, 3175 Telegraph Road, in Ventura. There will also be a reception at the church, followed by a procession and wreath ceremony at the Ventura Pier.
Fleming, who spent 12 years assigned to the base fire department as a rescue program manager, was confirmed missing on June 21 after he failed to show up at work. He was last seen kayaking at Gaviota State Beach on June 19.
The firefighter’s kayak and backpack were found midday on June 22 after personnel from the California Coast Guard and Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team covered more than 100 miles of coastline from Point Conception down to the Ventura County line and more than 170 square miles of ocean with both air and sea equipment. Authorities then suspended the search, but it was soon resumed by personnel from the Vandenberg fire department and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
“We covered a vast area using all the resources we could muster,” Wayne Seda, assistant fire chief and incident commander for the search, said in the release. “We’ve got a sense of closure in knowing we’ve done everything we could do, but closure won’t be fully realized until we can bring Sean home.
“The outpouring of support from organizations along the Central Coast has been nothing short of amazing,” Seda added.
Officials also distributed flyers at several locations along the coast asking to keep an eye out for anything that could help lead to Fleming’s recovery.
“Even though the search has been suspended, Sean will not be forgotten,” said Dan Ardoin, Vandenberg Air Force Base Fire Department division chief. “We’ve got a very tight-knit community—we’ll remain vigilant and we ask people throughout the area for their vigilance in identifying anything that may help us recover Sean.”
Agencies involved in the search included the Vandenberg Hot Shots and water rescue teams and off-duty firefighters from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. Civil Air Patrol and Air National Guard also provided assistance, and food and supplies were donated by dozens of commercial and private organizations.
People with any information regarding the Fleming case can contact the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department at 681-4100.
This article appears in Jul 1-8, 2010.