The Long Beach Fire Department is investigating “potential allegations of misconduct” involving employees who were in Santa Barbara over the weekend. The department’s investigation was announced after four people from the Long Beach area were treated for possible drug overdoses in Santa Barbara over the weekend.
Paramedics used the nasal spray Naloxone to treat two men and two women from Long Beach in their late 30s who were showing signs of opiate overdoses at a post-wedding celebration in a home in the Mission Canyon area just before 2 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. About 30 people were in the home in the 2800 block of Exeter Place, which was rented out for the occasion, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
“The patients are believed to have snorted a white powder from an unknown source,” sheriff’s officials said in a press release. “No drugs were located inside the residence. Paramedics administered Naloxone to all four patients and they were subsequently transported to the hospital.”
Asked about the Santa Barbara incident, Long Beach Fire Capt. Jack Crabtree issued a statement Monday saying the Fire Department “has been made aware of a situation regarding a few of our employees that were in Santa Barbara this past weekend. The department has initiated an investigation into the potential allegations of misconduct. This is a personnel investigation and we will not be able to provide any additional information at this time.”
Crabtree declined to say what positions the employees hold. No Fire Department employees have been placed on leave in the past week, according to city spokesman Kevin Lee.
