Demonstration session helps Santa Barbara boaters with emergency flares SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The skies were full of flying emergency flares and smoke along the Santa Barbara waterfront Tuesday evening. A special session was held by the Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol to show boaters the safe way to use different flares. Some were hand held guns, some were launched with a shove of your palm at the base of flare stick. Others were held in your hand and they sent out big plumes of orange emergency smoke. "The first time that you need to use a flare shouldn't be in the middle of the night and you are actually in an emergency," said Harbor Patrol Officer Rick Hubbard. "This gives people a chance to see the different styles of flares, the burn time for the different aerials."