Hour 2 | Karen Bass Presser @ConwayShow

Road closures / LAFD Capt. Erik Scott latest on fires  LA Mayor Karen Bass Presser //LA Presser 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's k IF.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am sixty and you're listening to The Conway Show
on demand on the iHeartRadio app. It's Conway Show. We
are all filled with anxiety, all of us. We all
have you know, we all are worried about our family,
our friends, loved ones. People lived up in the Palace
or lived lived up in the Palisades. People live up

(00:23):
in Altadena, Sillmar West Hills, Hollywood Studio City, and.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Somebody works here.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
And I agree with them saying this is this is
sort of equivalent to equivalent to New York's nine to eleven. Now,
I know we didn't lose as many people, and this
is not so far as we know, it's not deliberate.
It might be these fires may have been set on purpose.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
We don't know that.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
But the anxiety, just the anxiety that nine to eleven
brought to New York City, these fires are bringing to
southern California, and we're all on edge. We all are
on our last nerve. Post traumatic stress disorder, that's what

(01:13):
that is. By the way, post traumatic stress disorder is
when you can't take any more incoming, you've maxed out,
and you've spent your last nerve and so you can't
take any bad news, you can't take any loud noise,
you can't take any more anything. And that's what it is.

(01:34):
And we've all experienced that, and you get that phony alert.
It makes people crazy, makes people crazy. All right, let's
get to the power outages. That's a big story here
in southern California. Maybe you've been out of power since
since these fire started.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
He Timmy, can I just cut in for a second.
I don't know if you heard this in that last
traffic report. They're shutting down the one oh one because
of that fire in the West Hills area.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
The smoke, because of the smoke, smoke.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
And everything, and it looks like it's really traveling quickly,
so just in case it gets close to that one
oh one, they want to keep people danger. So this is,
uh the closure area on the northbound side. They'll take
you off at to Panga Canyon and then southbound at
Canaan Road.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh my god, stretch.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
That's too much. Yes, Oh, that's that's way too big
of an area, you know. I mean, they should at
least take it to Lost virgin Is and then Lake
and whatever that you know, Calabasas exit is so they're
shutting both sides.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
Yes, they're diverting traffic on that southbound side off at
Canaan's over north over reach and that it's huge. It's
a huge stretch. And then the northbound side of to
Pega Canyon.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
And you know the odd.

Speaker 4 (02:45):
Thing is that delays are loading up out of Agora
Hills all the way into all the way to the
Highway one twenty six, Highway two thirty two out in
the ox Nard area.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
The Cougars have more rights out there with that cougar bridge.

Speaker 4 (03:04):
Let's go cross that. What is it, sixty million dollar project?
Let's go play on that cougar bridge?

Speaker 3 (03:09):
All right? Is it?

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Thank you very much, Angel Martinez. They're closing the one
O one freeway from Tobanga all the way to Canan.
Might as well just you know, close it from San
Diego to San Francisco.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's a huge closure. All right, let's talk to you.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
I believe Captain Eric Scott is with us from LA
Fire Department.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Is that you, sir, Yes, sir s What is what's.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Going on here?

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Man?

Speaker 2 (03:33):
I know you guys, we watched you fight that fire
last night, that sunset fire, and I can't tell you
how impressed I was with you and your crew to
stand there with those fire engines on Franklin and dare
that fire to come towards you, and you saved every
one of those apartments, condos and homes. I give you,
guys and all your crew an added boy for that.

Speaker 5 (03:55):
We will pass that on and that is appreciated. It
has been a rough three days.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
It's horrible. I don't remember anything like this.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
I have a feeling, and again I don't want to
get into the politics or the blame game yet, but
I have a feeling that that your budget is about
to double or triple, you know, when all said and done,
I think we're looking at at a huge increase in
money for the LA Fire Department, and you guys deserve
every single dime of it.

Speaker 5 (04:21):
We need it. You don't need to increase anybody's salary.
That's not what we're interested in. We need the resources, tools,
that's training the team to do the job so we
can help those that were sworn to serve. It's been very,
very difficult. You know. Chief Crowley has been upfront. She
says we're underfunded, under resourced, and we need help, and

(04:44):
we're very appreciative for mutual aid coming in.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, it's outrageous to have a fire department that has
to fight fires from Calabas, I'm sorry, from Chatsworth to Sampedro.

Speaker 5 (04:58):
Exactly four hundred and seven square miles of you know,
four million people that live and work and play and
what we affectionately term as the nation's disaster theme part.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
That's right, and you're going to get more money. I
hope you guys double a drill love budget all right.
By the way, Captain Scott, how were you able to
draw so many helicopters onto that Hollywood fire so quickly
last night? It was very impressive. Where did they all
come from? Would they come from the friars? Were they
standing by?

Speaker 5 (05:29):
Isn't that outstanding?

Speaker 6 (05:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (05:31):
Are the lafd Air Operations? Is the krim Dela Creme.
They are such high and tight professional members. But so
we have a great fleet of those AUGUSTA one three
nine helicopters. There's multi mission. They do a great job.
And you might see a little helicopter way up above
a little bell two o five that's kind of the
marionette holding strings, coordinating how all the other helicopters can

(05:56):
move underneath them. From getting water to making strategic water
drops and they did an outstanding job. And right now
there are another outstanding job on this Kenneth fire that
broke out in Woodland Hills. It started in our jurisdiction.
We put out alerts, we told people to evacuate, and
if I'm going to if anybody wants to remember anything
that we're talking about tonight, it's this. If you see smoke,

(06:20):
you smell smoke, right now, get out. We don't have
time to play around. The quantity, size and duration of
these fires are incredible explosive fire behavior and they're burning
all over the place. Now we have resources all of them.
I'm not trying to drum up any sort of worry

(06:40):
for people, but rather the knowledge to not delay. When
we tell you that ready, Set Go program, you absolutely
should be set and feel free to pull that trigger
to go. But back to that Kenneth fire, we've been
able to hit that really hard and it's a unique thing.
Not a lot of people know that this is what
we call an MTZ, a mutual threat zone. Because you

(07:04):
have La City fire Station one oh five. They're at
the very you know, far end of the San Fernando Valley,
on the west side, going up into Bell Canyon, which
pushes into Ventura County, and then you got Agura and
Calabasas La County. So what you get with that is
arguably the largest initial attack of aviation resources in the nation.

(07:27):
So we hit this thing darn hard and fast because
it was ripping. It went from five to five hundred
in no time. And it's laid. We laid it down
right now. It's certainly not out and it's and it's
beyond my jurisdiction. So I got to not talk too
much about it, but we certainly made an outstanding headway
and listeners can be proud of that.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
Captain Eric Scott is with us from LA Fire Department.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
I got to ask, because I don't think anybody has,
but how are how's your crew holding up? The men
and women who are out there for you know, thirty
six straight twenty four straight hours. Are you getting any
word as fatigue setting in? How are they holding up?

Speaker 7 (08:07):
It's tough.

Speaker 5 (08:08):
This is what we call I A initial action. It's
always the roughest part. But the challenges we're going from
IA to IA to I A because there's fire after
fire after fire, so it is relentless. It is arduous work,
and we have challenges. There's been you know, water pressure challenges,
resource challenges, rescue challenges, lack of evact challenges. So we've

(08:32):
done a heck of a job. I can tell you
wholeheartedly that these firefighters, and I've been out talking with
all of them at every base camp, every all along
the way, and they are putting their heart and soul
into this. They're sit on the face, they're tired, but
they're holding their head high.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, and it must be frustrating as hell for them
to open up fire hydrant and have no action.

Speaker 8 (08:56):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from AFI
A six Sporting, right.

Speaker 5 (09:03):
I mean, imagine you being a fire captain and you're
triaging homes to save and we're trying to to get
there in your hose line can go limp, and we're not.
We're just being transparent. But the problem with that is
that the city water infrastructure is not built to withstand

(09:24):
so much water drawing out at the same time it's
made to turn on your facet and wash your hands
and to take a shower, We're bringing in large hose
lines pouring copious amounts of water on these homes, and
so DWP is filling those reservoirs, you know, but it's
it's like having a glass of water and you're supposed

(09:45):
to just be drinking one straw out of it, but
we've put ten straws in it. And so the city's
got to figure this out, and it's something that they're
they're talking about and trying to work on. But let
means make another important. There's not just problems. We're problem solvers.
And this is not unusual. This is not La City specific.

(10:06):
This is any major city is made that way, and
any major department would be inundated. So what we do
is we have water shuttles, We bring in water tanks
full of water that can come in and we can
draw from those instead of the hydrants that might be
low on pressure. We have tools to go to swimming

(10:30):
pools and draft because again this is not just an
LA City issue. When you're running low pressure on waters.
We have this in the Thomas fire. I'm on a
federal incident management team that goes all over the nation
for Type one incidents. That's the biggest of the big
and we see this at a lot of places. So
firefighters have tactics that we implement to get around that.

Speaker 3 (10:54):
But it's a challenge, yeah, and it's gonna.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Be frustrating as hell for the guys and gals fighting
fires in Big Palisades and Malibu to run out of
water and then they turn their back and it's the
Pacific Ocean.

Speaker 5 (11:07):
That's a lot of water.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
It's horrible, all right, real quickly we use it though,
I know, I know you're busy, but the mutual aid
coming from out of state, who can we thank on
the air for taking the time to leave their state
and help us here in southern California.

Speaker 5 (11:20):
Oh, I lost count you know, we got them from Arizona, Utah.
We got a lot of different states coming in, federal
partners coming in. I haven't even tallied it. So that
is a beautiful thing. This mutual aid wave to those firefighters,
give them a little bit of hope. They're going to
be getting it for quite some time for us.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
I really appreciate you coming on, Captain Eric Scott, like,
thank you for taking time to spread the information and
we'll check out.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
We're going to go to came back now.

Speaker 6 (11:49):
It's a perfect example of how we are speaking with
one voice.

Speaker 7 (11:53):
We will unify our city.

Speaker 6 (11:55):
We will get through this crisis, and we will rebuild
a better Los Angeles. First and foremost, of course, my
thoughts are with the thousands of Angelinos impacted by these
continuing fires. There is a new fire, unfortunately in West Hills,
pushing into Ventura County, and we are expecting this fire
to rapidly spread due to high winds. This is a

(12:18):
reminder that this is a very dynamic situation that can
change quickly. The priority for all Angelinos remains stay safe
and please follow directions from.

Speaker 7 (12:29):
The public safety officials.

Speaker 6 (12:31):
When you are told to evacuate, please evacuate. When you
don't evacuate, you compromise the abilities of the first responders
one to address this crisis. You put yourself in danger
and you put others in dangers. Again, we know that
this is an active situation. LAPD will be assisting with evacuations,

(12:53):
and I want to thank the firefighters from all over
the state and frankly from many other areas who have
come to respond to this unprecedented situation. Now for an
update on this most recent fire, I'd like to call
Chief Crowley.

Speaker 9 (13:14):
Well, good evening everyone, I'm Christian Crowley. Fire Chief of
Los Angeles City Fire Department. We are now actively engaged in.

Speaker 7 (13:22):
A new brush fire.

Speaker 9 (13:24):
We're calling it the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills
area of Los Angeles on the border of Ventura County.
This fire was over fifty acres upon arrival, with the
potential for rapid growth over the next hour. Over sixty
fire companies from the Los Angeles City Fire Department, LA
County Fire Department, and Ventura County Fire Department were initially

(13:46):
dispatched to the specific incident. Additional resources have been requested and.

Speaker 7 (13:52):
Are en route.

Speaker 9 (13:53):
The fire started in the city of Los Angeles and
burned rapidly into the County of Ventura. Los Angeles County
Fire Department and Ventura County Fire Department are in unified command.
The LFD is now an assisting agency. There are currently
immediate evacuation orders in place south of n Owen, north

(14:16):
of Burbank, east of Valley Circle, and west of County
Lane Road, and evacuation warning is in place west of
Valley Circle, north of Sataquoi, east of Woodlake.

Speaker 7 (14:28):
And south of Burbank.

Speaker 9 (14:31):
I will now be providing a quick update on the
Palisades Fire. Current acreage is nineteen thousand, nine hundred and
seventy eight. There are currently five thy, three hundred and
sixteen structures that were damaged or destroyed, and unfortunately, our
thoughts and prayers go out to the families. We do
have a confirmed two fatalities that are now due to

(14:54):
this incident. Closing, I want to make sure that we
thank the Residence of Los Angeles for remaining vigilant and
this new fire shows that we are absolutely not out
of this extreme weather event. I personally want to take
and show I should say my thanks and gratitude to

(15:14):
all of our firefighters, are first responders and for their families,
for all the sacrifices their relentless efforts in battling this
historic fire, and I should make that plural historic fires.
Next up, we're going to bring back the mayor, ma'am.

Speaker 6 (15:33):
Thank you Chief Crowley for your leadership, and thank you
for that update. We'll have critical updates on the state
of this emergency, broadly including resources for Angelinos who have
been impacted. Again, the priority of all Angelino's remains to
stay safe and to follow directions from public safety officials.
I was at the command post for the Palisades fire

(15:55):
with Governor Newsom and other federal partners earlier today and
we talked about strategies to provide relief. First, I just
got off the phone with President Biden, and right before
this press conference I also spoke to Vice President Harris
earlier today. Earlier today the President's announce the federal government

(16:16):
would pay for one hundred percent of disaster response costs
from the wildfires.

Speaker 7 (16:22):
In this area.

Speaker 6 (16:23):
This is unprecedented because usually it is not one hundred percent.
As the FEMA Administrator Chris Wall will discuss, new resources
are also available for impacted Angelinos to recover from this emergency.
So thank you FEMA Administrator for being here today and
for your continued partnership on.

Speaker 7 (16:45):
Behalf of the White House.

Speaker 6 (16:46):
Second, as you heard from the update from the County
at the Eton fire posts, in coordination with the County
of LA we have requested the National Guard along with
the sheriff, and the county has implemented a curview in
all burn areas. And actually, let me correct that and
say that the county is looking at a curview but

(17:08):
has not implemented it yet. In Los Angeles, we have
had evacuation orders in place in the Palisades and in Silmar,
those evacuation orders have the force of a curfew, meaning
you must leave and you cannot come back into the
area period twenty four hours a day. We have to

(17:28):
protect the area, especially from those properties that remain I've
joined the sheriff in inviting the National Guard to take
on non emergency roles and provide us with resources to
keep the burn areas secure so that our frontline firefighters
and police officers can focus on saving lives. So let
me be clear, there's going to be zero tolerance, zero

(17:52):
tolerance for anybody that would be I don't even know
how to say this, but that would dare to enter
house or looped property or anything from the individuals or
from structures.

Speaker 7 (18:07):
That remain standing.

Speaker 6 (18:08):
I was with d A Hawkman this morning and he
made it very clear that if anybody is involved in
looting or any property damage that he is ready.

Speaker 7 (18:18):
To prosecute to the full extent of the law.

Speaker 6 (18:21):
So my team is in coordination with the Adjutant General
who heads the National Guard, and I've spoken with the
Governor with about the National Guard to take on specifically
non emergency roles to free up our firefighters and officers
to do the life saving work that they do in
the city, so that we are sure to have enough

(18:41):
resources to surge our first responder so that they can
focus on the life saving work. Third, we're already looking
ahead to aggressively rebuild the city of Los Angeles. Will
lead in this effort in the areas that are impacted
by the city. We are going to clear the red

(19:02):
tape and unnecessary delays and costs and headaches that people
experience in ordinary times so that we can rebuild your
homes quickly. We're going to clear the way to rapidly
rebuild our neighborhood infrastructure, which means roads, sidewalks, street lights,
and utilities.

Speaker 7 (19:21):
We will clear the way to rebuild.

Speaker 6 (19:22):
And open our small businesses and provide assistance to make
it through these disclosures.

Speaker 7 (19:29):
This is a massive effort.

Speaker 6 (19:31):
But we will be ready and we will get the
job done by turning away from the usual city system
and moving forward in a new direction. LA has to
be strong united. We will reject those who seek in
this emergency, when lives are at stake and lives have
been lost. We will reject those who seek to divide

(19:55):
us and seek to misinform because as evidence by the
leadership standing here today, we will be united. We will
rebuild our city, and we will do whatever is necessary.

Speaker 7 (20:07):
To get us past this crisis. And we can do
that by being united.

Speaker 6 (20:12):
So let me just introduce our FEMA administrator, and I
really want to thank her for coming here from Washington,
d C. Obviously on very short notice, Dianne chris Well.

Speaker 10 (20:27):
From mass First, I would just like to start by saying,
on behalf of President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the
entire Biden Harris administration, our hearts go out to everybody
who has been impacted by this truly tragic event. And
I think as you heard Mayor Bass lay out her
really aggressive vision for how you're going to rebuild, I

(20:49):
just want you to know, Mayor that we are going
to be here with you along the way to help
you rebuild in a way that makes you stronger and
more resilient. As the firefighters continue to bring and resources
and support the suppression efforts for these fires. With the
Major Disaster declaration, we now have the ability to begin
having those conversations about recovery as well as help the

(21:11):
individuals who have lost everything on jumpstart their road to recovery.
If you live in Los Angeles County and you have
been impacted by this disaster, you can register for FEMA assistants.
You can go to Disaster Assistance dot gov. That's the
best way to get into our system and start that process.

Speaker 7 (21:29):
You should also.

Speaker 10 (21:30):
Contact your insurance company because we will need that information
as well as we start to work with you on
your claim. Some of the things that you're going to
be eligible for, if you incurred costs for temporary lodging
as you evacuated, if you're going to need longer term
lodging because you're displaced from your home for a period
of time, If you need repairs to your home, we
have some financial assistance that can help there. If you

(21:52):
lost other things like a vehicle, we have some financial assistance.
We know that everybody's situation is going to be different.
For each person, it's going to be unique to them.
We want to be able to work with each of
you individually to help you on that road to recovery.
Help you get to the right resources, whether it's FEMA resources,
complementing what your insurance company may provide, or bringing in
our nonprofit partners to help make sure that we have

(22:15):
a holistic recovery for everybody that's been impacted, but we'll
also work with you mayor for things like temporary schools,
temporary road repair if you need that, all these temporary
measures that are going to be needed to help stabilize
the community as you start to rebuild.

Speaker 8 (22:30):
Speak you're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from
KFI AM six forty.

Speaker 10 (22:38):
Especially with the debris removal, and as President Biden announced,
We're going to cover that debris removal and all of
your emergency protective measures at one hundred percent for one
hundred and eighty days because we know it's going to
take a long time to get that debris removal out.
I think what I'll just say in closing here is
we know that recovery is complicated, and for something as

(22:59):
catast traffic is what I have seen so far here
across Los Angeles. We know that this recovery is going
to be complicated, but it is doable when we all
come together with the city, the state, the federal government,
our nonprofit partners. When we work together, as you can
see behind us here, anything is possible and we will
help you rebuild in a way that makes you stronger.

Speaker 7 (23:20):
Mareor let me introduce now.

Speaker 6 (23:25):
First of all, let me just say that the President
Biden and Vice President Harris just could not have been
more supportive and various members of the cabinet. Let me
introduce our Senator Adam Schiff.

Speaker 11 (23:42):
Madam Mayor, thank you, Thank you for bringing us all together,
and thank you for your leadership. I want to begin
also by acknowledging those that have lost their lives and
lost their homes.

Speaker 1 (23:54):
I was on the phone much of the early.

Speaker 11 (23:57):
Part of the day talking to people that lost everything,
and first many because of the nature of these fires.
They not only lost their home, they lost their whole neighborhood,
They lost their whole community.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
They lost their school and their place of worship.

Speaker 11 (24:10):
It's all gone, and I just want to express the
heartbreak I know we're all feeling over those massive losses,
unprecedented in our state's history. I also want to, as
the Mayor was alluding, to, take this opportunity to thank
the Biden administration for what they've done. Senator Padilla and

(24:33):
I and the California House Delegation, several of my colleagues
here today have worked to try to get a quick
declaration of a disaster to try to get the most
we could in terms of a federal match, and we could
not have asked for more from the administration. The declaration
was almost immediate, and as the mayor was saying, you're

(24:56):
lucky normally to get seventy five percent of a federal match,
we learned today from the President we're getting one hundred
percent federal match here. That's extraordinary. I talked to the
President and the Vice President today about both these issues
and more and the needs ahead, and they could not
have been more committed to making sure the California and

(25:18):
Southern California get the resources and help they need. And
I thank our FEMA administrator also for her work on this. Finally,
I just want to say candidly, we are not through
this by any means. We keep seeing these fires pop

(25:40):
up in different places.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
We may see more before this is over.

Speaker 11 (25:47):
If you're told to evacuate, then get the hell out.
You might think you can outrun a fire, You are
not going to outrun these fires.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
You're just not.

Speaker 11 (25:59):
The way they are moving, the unpredictability of how they're moving,
the swiftness with how they're moving, you are not going
to outrun these fires. If you stay You're going to
die in them, and it's not worth it. So if
you're told to evacuate, get the hell out, save yourselves,
you can rebuild. Because we are going to rebuild. We also,

(26:21):
I think, have to be mindful of the risks that
will fall these fires, and that.

Speaker 1 (26:25):
Is when the rains come and the risk of mud slides.

Speaker 11 (26:29):
So I say that because we need to know what
we're looking forward to a head. But I want to
underscore finally what the mayor was saying. Oh, so we're
going to get through this. We're going to get through this.
We're Californians. We will bounce back from this. We will
rebuild from this, rebuild our neighborhoods and our schools and
our places of worship.

Speaker 1 (26:50):
We will come back from this.

Speaker 11 (26:51):
And once again, I think all of you that are
on the front lines of this, all of the first
responders who are out there every day putting their lives
on the line, doing heroic work. I'm grateful to all
the other jurisdictions that are providing.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
Personnel and materiel.

Speaker 11 (27:13):
Just going through some of the fire areas earlier today,
you see one truck from this county, another from that county,
from all over the state, the country, and indeed other
countries as well. So thank you to the first responders.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
Thank you, Mayor.

Speaker 6 (27:32):
Before I bring up our supervisor, let me just acknowledge
count City Councilman John Lee, he wanted to be here today,
but because of.

Speaker 7 (27:40):
The latest fire, he went to that situation.

Speaker 6 (27:44):
Supervisor Lindsay Horvano, Thank you, Adam, Mayor.

Speaker 12 (27:49):
Our West Hills Hidden Hills, Calabasas residents are under evacuation
order and evacuation warning for the Kenneth fire. As you heard,
it just started over two hours ago and at the
rate of spread and the density of the communities in
this area, it is serious. Please act swiftly, move quickly,

(28:15):
evacuate now to protect your life, the lives of your
community members, and the lives of our first responders. A
shelter has been established at El Camino Real Charter School
at five to four for zero Valley Circle in Woodland Hills.
Continue to stay updated at emergency dot LA County dot

(28:37):
gov to ensure we can protect lives during this critical time.
I've been in touch with most of the elected leaders
in this area and we are united in our commitment
to keeping people safe. Our independent cities have lived through
this before. They are resilient and they are strong, but

(28:58):
they must stay informed. Your partnership is critical to our
success in keeping you safe. To those impacted by these
devastating fires, my heart is with you. The grief that
we have witnessed out there is immense. As we see
homes and neighborhoods changed forever, and as the time goes

(29:24):
on it feels heavier. We are weary, but we will
not break. The County is here for you, both in
the crisis and on the road ahead. For my third
district communities impacted by Palisades Sunset and Hearst fires the
Pacific Palisades. Due to the President's Major Disaster declaration, impacted

(29:48):
community members can start applying for relief now.

Speaker 7 (29:51):
As you heard.

Speaker 12 (29:52):
Please visit Disaster Assistance dot gov or call eight hundred
six ' to one FEMA to get started. My residents
in the Tapanga Canyon, I've been in contact with Chief
Morony and Captain C two and Topanga Canyon is the
number one priority for Palisades fire area today. For them,

(30:12):
personnel both aerial and on the ground are being deployed
to protect our Topanga Canyon communities and we are here
for you, and every resource is committed to you and
your safety. To our residents in Malibu, Beyon alert for
additional evacuation instructions due to the Kenneth Fire. We know

(30:33):
you are already suffering so much, and we are fighting
even greater devastation.

Speaker 7 (30:39):
We are here for you.

Speaker 12 (30:41):
Santa Monica's curfew remains active from sunset to sunrise, and
their evacuation orders are unchanged today. Santa Monica Mayor Lana
Negretti is here with us this afternoon, and we stand
strong with all Santa Monicans. Hollywood, the Sunset Fire is
contained with.

Speaker 7 (31:00):
No structures destroyed.

Speaker 12 (31:02):
All evacuation orders have been lifted. Please continue to stay
alert and move with caution as you return to your homes.
Crews are still working, so your safety is their and
our priority. I want to especially thank Senator Shift and
FEMA Administrator.

Speaker 7 (31:20):
Chris Well for their support.

Speaker 12 (31:22):
Alongside many present here, I was able to join so
many in visiting and learning from our extraordinary firefighters, our
law enforcement officials, and first responders at the Palisades Fire
Incident Command Post earlier today. They are digging even deeper

(31:43):
despite treacherous conditions and long hours help is on the
way for them, but we know you will have our
back until then. Shortly after that, President Biden called me
personally to offer his additional support. Passion knows no bounds,
and his deep understanding of our pain means he has

(32:05):
our back. To With that, I want to close and
talking about the devastation that people are feeling. Mental health
supports continue to be available through the County's Department of
Mental Health eight hundred eight five four seven seven seven
to one. We have sent mental health professionals out to

(32:25):
many of the shelter locations to ensure that while people
are waiting, they are beginning their healing process and getting
the support that they need. The Disaster Distress Helpline is
also available for crisis counseling. You can call her text
eight hundred nine to eighty five five nine nine zero.
Our county is doing everything possible to respond to these

(32:48):
fires and to work towards containment, but please continue to
follow evacuation orders and stay vigilant. I know it is
hard to walk away from everything that you have in
did yourself in, but if you don't, it puts us
all at risk. Please follow these evacuation orders, take care

(33:10):
of yourselves and each other.

Speaker 7 (33:12):
The only way we get through this is together.

Speaker 12 (33:16):
We will protect our communities and come through this stronger.
And Next, I'd like to introduce La County Fire Chief
Deputy Chief John O'Brien.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
Good evening everyone.

Speaker 13 (33:33):
My name is John O'Brien, Chief Deputy of Emergency Operations
for the County of Los Angeles Fire Department.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
Tonight, I'll start by.

Speaker 13 (33:39):
Giving an update update on the Eton Fire, affecting the
communities of Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Arcadia, and Monrovia. The
Los Angeles County Fire Department remains in unified command with
Pasadena Fire, Sierra Madre Fire, Arcadia Fire, the United States
Forest Service and cal Fire, as well as the Sheriff's

(34:01):
Department and our local law enforcement agencies. The Eton Fire
is now over thirteen thousand, six hundred and nine acres
and still remains zero percent contained. We have one five
hundred and twenty seven firefighting personnel assigned and mutual aid
resources from across the state and nation arriving to assist
with this fire. We have had several firefighter injuries reported

(34:25):
and estimate that over five thousand structures have been destroyed.
This is based on aerial imagery that's been provided, we
expect those numbers can change either go up or down
based on additional mapping of the fire, as well as
when our damage inspection teams get out there and complete
their thorough damage assessment of the burn area. We also

(34:46):
had one firefighter injured today who sustained injuries battling the
fire and is currently at a local area hospital. The
cause of the fire is unknown and remains under investigation
as the soon as the cause is determined, we will
be sure to get that information out to all. As

(35:06):
Supervisor Horvath and Chief Crowley mentioned, the Kenneth fires started
just after two thirty pm today in West Hills and
has grown over eight hundred acres in that short period
of time. We have a significant augmentation of ground and
air resources assigned with the evacuations currently in the communities
of West Hills, Hidden Hills, and Calabasas. Additional information will

(35:31):
be provided as this incident develops. By encourage all to
be vigilant and visit La County dot gov forward slash
emergency for the latest incident information. The number of resources
assigned to this fire siege event has increased significantly and
we are in a much better position than we were
earlier in the week. Out of state resources continue to

(35:53):
arrive in Los Angeles County, and we are appreciative of
our fire partners from throughout the Western United States providing
assistance to Los Angeles County.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
In our time of need.

Speaker 13 (36:04):
Regarding the current red flag warning, the National Weather Service
predicts the warning will remain in effect for Los Angeles
County and the majority of Ventura County through Friday, with
another likely event impacting both counties.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Earlier next week.

Speaker 13 (36:19):
I encourage all residents and communities to remain vigilant as
we weather this fire siege together and again visit Lacounty
dot gov forward slash emergency for the latest information on
all incidents. And lastly, I want to acknowledge the tireless
efforts of MIT's Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel and

(36:39):
all the firefighters who are here assisting both on the
lines and those behind the scenes who continuous place themselves
in harm's way to protect the residents and property of
this great county. Thank you for always being there and
continuing to be a safe as and take care of yourself,

(37:00):
excuse me, those around you and the.

Speaker 7 (37:01):
People who need us most.

Speaker 13 (37:04):
Thank you, and with that, I'll now turn it over
to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonald.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
Thank you, Thanks, good evening.

Speaker 14 (37:14):
Los Angeles Police Department extends our deepest sympathy of those
who've been affected by the devastating fire. Our community is
facing significant challenges and ensuring the safety and well being
of our residents is our number one priority. The department
is fully committed to protecting lives, property, and critical infrastructure
during this crisis. I want to also, as you've heard,

(37:34):
I don't know that we can thank enough the members
of the LAPD, the Sheriff's.

Speaker 8 (37:39):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six.

Speaker 14 (37:43):
Forty, department, all of our fire partners, and then others
that don't get recognition, the Department of Public Works, Department
of Water and Power, so many others that are out
there on the front lines and doing the job to
try and restore order to everyone.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
There was a.

Speaker 14 (38:02):
Fatality reported earlier today around ten am, officers were notified
of a death investigation in the fifteen three hundred block
of Friends Street in the Palisades area. LAPD investigators immediately
notified LA Fire Department arson in the Los Angeles County
Coroner's Office, who responded and determined the death to be
fire related. The LAPD and our law enforcement partners are

(38:25):
actively maintaining law and order in areas.

Speaker 1 (38:27):
Impacted by the fires.

Speaker 14 (38:29):
Officers are patrolling these areas to try and deter criminal
activity and ensure public safety, protecting homes and businesses in
the evacuated and vulnerable zones as our priority, ensuring no
one takes advantage of a difficult situation.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
As the Mayor said.

Speaker 14 (38:45):
Earlier, there will be zero tolerance for looting, looting, or
exploiting this disaster will not be tolerated. Individuals caught looting
or committing crimes and affected areas will be arrested and
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. There were
no reports of life looting at this time tonight. People
remain vigilant and patrols in burn areas have been increased

(39:06):
to prevent and respond swiftly to such activities. To enhance
public safety and allow first responders and recovery teams to
work effectively, a county wide hard curfew is in effect
or will be in effect from six pm to six
am in the affected burn areas. Anyone violating this curfew
order or that will be in effect or the current

(39:28):
evacuation order without valid reason may face legal consequences. The
measure is essential to protect residents and support recovery efforts.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
The support of the National.

Speaker 14 (39:38):
Guard is being valuable during this emergency and we're thankful
for that, enabling law enforcement to focus on crime suppression.
The National Guard will be assisting in the following areas,
traffic control to maintain roadways and ensuring access to affected
areas is restricted only to authorized personnel, critical infrastructure security

(39:58):
and checkpoints, find credentials and restricting unauthorized entry into those
protected zones. These measures may cause inconvenience to many, but
they are necessary for public safety and community recovery. Residents
are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to their local
law enforcement agency. A united effort is key to ensuring

(40:20):
a swift and secure recovery process for all law enforcement.
The National Guard and other first responders are here to
support the community during this difficult time. The commitment remains
steadfast and restoring safety and normalcy as quickly as we can.
Cooperation and resilience from the community is greatly appreciated, and
we're thankful for the cooperation that we've received to this point.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Thank you, I mean now introduce.

Speaker 14 (40:48):
Following me is La Unified School District Superintendent Alberto carvallotendent
here from.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
I'm sorry, my mistake.

Speaker 14 (40:59):
Now my partner, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, thank you,
I forgot about me already.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
Okay, to Jim's John, just.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
A quick overview.

Speaker 15 (41:11):
We have close to five hundred sheriff deputies working throughout
the county, working on evacuations, working on traffic control, both
ingress and egress, and we are also working what we
call looter suppression. It's unfortunate that we have to assign
people to do that task, but we have and we

(41:33):
have made arrest behind that. In regards to resources, on
the way to this press conference, our Northern Command made
a request for one hundred more deputies, or roughly one
hundred more deputies. So we are in the process from
a mutual aid perspective of sending what we have internally

(41:54):
and then requesting resources from counties around us. As we
are working, as you see and hear, many different priorities
because this event continues and we continue to get new fires.
The mayor mentioned it. Chief McDonald mentioned it. I've been
working with the state, the Office of Emergency Services for

(42:18):
the last several days in trying to estimate the California
National Guard and how they would be utilized. We made
the official request earlier today and I'm happy to report
that they have been staged and ready to go. They're

(42:38):
going to be start, They're going to get deployed to
specific missions. The first missions will be at the Palisades Fire,
at the Eaton fire. They will be supporting the City
of Los Angeles as well. Mayor Bass and Chief McDonald
made that request to us. There are several other cities
that have requested National Guard resources, the city of Santa Monica,

(43:01):
the City of Pasadena, the City of Arcadia, and I'm
sure as time goes on there will be others. Our
Emergency Operations Bureau will distribute not only mutual aid resources
throughout the county as needed, and then we may have
to redeploy people, whether it is police officers, deputy sheriffs,
or National guardsmen as we see and then the state again,

(43:25):
I can't say enough about the Office of Emergency Services
and the support of Governor Newsom, who has basically called
and said, what do you need? What else can we
send you? I also received a call from Commissioner Sean
Derief from the California Highway Patrol. We have been utilizing
their resources and using them through a mutual aid response

(43:45):
toout the county.

Speaker 1 (43:47):
I want to switch gears momentarily.

Speaker 15 (43:49):
You've heard the word curfew come up a couple of times.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
We as the County, are in.

Speaker 15 (43:54):
The process with our attorneys and our Office of Emergency
Management of drafting that curfew paperwork, and as we're doing that,
I cannot tell you if the curfew will be enacted tonight.
The goal is for it to be enacted tonight, but
once we get everything done, we may enact.

Speaker 1 (44:14):
It tomorrow night.

Speaker 15 (44:15):
That being said, I want to make sure, and we've
said it a couple of times, in the areas that
have been evacuated, do not go in there unless you
have specific business.

Speaker 1 (44:29):
And right now, the only people have.

Speaker 15 (44:31):
Business in there are firefighters and law enforcement or some
kind of worker that's trying to put utilities back together
for us will be detained. You will be arrested if
you're doing there and you're up to no good. And
as the mayor said, We've all talked to the district
attorney who says that they will prosecute without hesitation, So

(44:55):
please make sure everybody understands that. And just going back
to the curfew, the curfew for clarification is not county wide.
The curfew will only take place in the impacted areas,
specifically those areas that have had mandated evacuations. So, for example,
in the city of Los Angeles, as they're requesting those

(45:17):
National Guard resources, you're talking about the Palisades area for
us in Los Angeles County, it is also that Palisades,
Malibu Lost Hills area, and then the Alta Dina area,
Pasadena self explanatory, Santa Monica self explanatory, and the other
cities that are requesting the assistance.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
As you see, with all of.

Speaker 15 (45:40):
Our partners from a mutual aid perspective, we are second.

Speaker 1 (45:43):
To none anywhere in this country.

Speaker 15 (45:45):
Whether it is fire resources or it is law enforcement resources.
We are able to depend on each other to make
sure that we provide the best service we can to
our community. Just the very last thing, if anyone has
any questions about whether it's evacuations mandatory or warnings or

(46:09):
any traffic closures. Go to Ali County dot gov slash
emergency for updated information.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
Thank you very much, and with that now I will
bring up the superintendent.

Speaker 15 (46:20):
We didn't forget about you.

Speaker 16 (46:24):
Thank you very much, Sheriff Luna, Madam Mayor, thank you
so much for your leadership. I would lock to also
thank the city leaders, county, state and federal entities who
have been responsive, who have been supportive and collaborative during
very trying times. Today we closed all schools in Los
Angeles Unified School District, and we announced earlier today because

(46:48):
of a detailed examination of scientific data, win trends and
the continuity of these awful fires that would be proven
to announce early on the closure of all schools going
into tomorrow, January tenth. We made this decision after reviewing
first and foremost air quality data. Fires may be far

(47:13):
away from some communities where we have schools, However, winds
are transporting particulate matter, smoke and ashes across the entire district.
And yes, we celebrate when the winds subside because that
allows more effective combating of fires. But when the winds subside,

(47:33):
often that cloud of smoke lingers over certain communities.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
When the winds pick up.

Speaker 16 (47:39):
Obviously the fires explode, creating more smoke. Smoke for us
is the enemy as it compromises the air quality around
our schools. We open eight feeding centers grab and go
food distribution centers across our community. We will increase that
to sixteen centers across Lozanne was Unified. We recognize that

(48:01):
when we close schools, there are a lot of parents
who depend on our schools not only for nutrition but
also for child supervision. That is why we partner aggressively
and I am indebted to the YMCA for opening thirty
sites providing child supervision with enrichment activities at no cost
to the residence of our community. So tomorrow our students

(48:24):
will continue in a continuity of learning methodology, relying on
digital resources available to them. We also recognize that some
areas of our community are struggling with power, with electricity
obviously not being able to perhaps have connectivity or electricity
for their devices. That is why at our regional centers

(48:45):
we have packets of instructural materials for all grade levels
and subject areas for those families that may need them
for tomorrow. Not only are our schools closed, all extracurricular
activities and athletics activities previously scheduled have also been canceled.
Reopening the school system is not an easy process, particularly

(49:09):
after a crisis like this one. We need to do
indoor and outdoor cleaning, the replacement of filters. That's why
I want to thank in advance our workforce, particularly SEIU
ninety nine, the teamsters, everyone involved in the replacement of
filters and the cleaning process in advance of our students
and our staff returning.

Speaker 1 (49:30):
To our schools.

Speaker 16 (49:32):
We will be examining the data tomorrow and into the
weekend before making a decision about conditions as we head
into Monday. I don't you say what has been said,
this is a set of unprecedented circumstances. At no point
in the history of our community or perhaps the country,
have we had fires simultaneously happening, not one, multiple serious

(49:55):
fires simultaneously occurring wrapped around hurricane level force winds. I
come from a place where hurricanes are constant, but there's
no fire associated, so this is a real threat. I
want to thank the first responders that are working tirelessly
in our community, and we will be bringing information to

(50:18):
our community which can also be accessed on www l
U s D dot org Espanol. Quodamente la bass los
localis esta talis as is tian dis facilis.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
Okay, we're going to wrap this up here. If the
amer comes back on and answers any questions, we will
have that for you. We're going to take a quick
break here and come up with it. We'll come back
with a complete wrap up of everything. The most important
news I think coming out of that press conference are
potential curfews, not county wide, but in the mandatory evacuation areas.

Speaker 3 (51:04):
That was important.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
Also the injuries and the unfortunate deaths that have happened.
And FEMA has promised for the next one hundred and
eighty days to pick up one hundred percent of the
expenditures for these fires.

Speaker 3 (51:22):
That is uh, I've never heard of that before.

Speaker 2 (51:24):
For the next one hundred and eighty days, one hundred percent,
and we'll come back. I'll give you a phone number
where you can call to start the process of rebuilding.
You can call FEMA get some of that money. You
have one hundred and eighty days, do it now, get
in line, start the process.

Speaker 3 (51:40):
It's Conway Show, unbelievable week.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Here.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
We'll all remember for the rest of our lives where
we were when this happened. We're live on KFI AM
six forty Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Now you can always hear us live on KFI AM
six forty seven pm Monday through Friday, and anytime on
demand on the iHeartRadio app.