January 13, 2025 • 33 mins
Tim Conway Jr. kicks off the show with a deep dive into the fires that have devastated Los Angeles, exploring the emotional toll, political fallout, and lasting impact on the city. Joined by Phil Shuman of Fox LA, Tim questions Mayor Karen Bass’s response to the heightened fire threat and delves into the complex blame surrounding the disaster. James Brotherton from the National Weather Service provides an update on the Santa Ana winds.
The discussion shifts to the origins of the Palisades fire, the ongoing investigation, and reports of looting that have added to the heartbreak. Tim reflects on the resilience of Angelenos, sharing how his family is donating to those in need. With a focus on personal accounts and journalistic insight, Tim and Phil capture the human side of a tragedy that has reshaped Los Angeles.
The discussion shifts to the origins of the Palisades fire, the ongoing investigation, and reports of looting that have added to the heartbreak. Tim reflects on the resilience of Angelenos, sharing how his family is donating to those in need. With a focus on personal accounts and journalistic insight, Tim and Phil capture the human side of a tragedy that has reshaped Los Angeles.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's k IF.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am six forty and you're listening to the Conway
Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
It is Monday, lots going on, lots going on.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
We get a lot of email, a lot of people
sending us DMS and Facebook stuff and x and everybody's
got an unbelievable story when it comes to this fire.
And then there are a lot of people saying, hey,
can we cut the fire coverage down to like fifty percent?
Like what I said, this is the biggest story in
(00:30):
the world. There's a people that are that need some help,
and speak of help.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Phil Schumann is coming to help us out today. Nice
to see you, Bubba. Are you nice to see you.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
It's just it's words don't describe it, are not sufficient,
and we deal with words.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And when you're out there, there's a different vibe to
the city. You know, there's a different vibe to what's
going on out there. And people are I don't think
they're you know, I think they're on edge and they're
on their last nerve. And I hear horns, I hear
more people, I see more people flipping other people. It's
like I went to the Empire Center day to pick
something up, and I am Burbank in Burbank, and I
(01:08):
went to back into a spot, which I don't normally
like to do because you know, that clogs up everybody.
And I hit the curb, and which I do like
once every fifty years. I'm pretty good at backing a
car up. I could back a boat up, I could
back a car up. And I hit this side curb
and so I had to go forward again. And a
guy yelled at me. He goes that first time.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
Parking like that.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I'm like, oh, bobo, wow, God. People are anxious. Yeah,
understandably they're on their last nard. Well if they're paying attention,
and how do you not. I mean some people are
tuning it out.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
They're overwhelmed, but especially with this forecast and this term
isn't this strange term, particularly dangerous situation.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's the official National Weather Service term.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I record all the local news and it doesn't disappear
until it has to off the DVR. So I'm back
and listened to Thursday before the fire fire started on Tuesday.
I listened to it Thursday on Channel two, five and seven.
They at the top of those newscasts, they were talking
about the wind. Sure at the top of the newscast
the Thursday before it happened, all three lead story was
(02:15):
the wind and yet our mayriage took off.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
And then on Monday, after she was gone, the.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
Warning was life threatening, and I said, I was thinking
to myself, they're trying to scare us. Is that really necessary?
Life threatening and dangerous winds? I'd never heard that before,
and they're right, and it obviously turned out to be right.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
But you know, I have a friend who I got
I got actually two friends up in the Highlands area
and both their homes made it by you know. They
I have my sister lose out in Malibu and thank god,
you know, her apartment made it. But she's not gonna
be allowed in for four to six weeks. And then
even when she's allowed back in, what does that look like?
You know, there's gonna be cleaning up and construction, you know,
(03:01):
for five years.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Oh easily.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
And it's we're not even a week into this, and
we already got to be thinking about we're looking at
years of cleanup of rebuilding tomorrow. Governor Knewsom, the Marshall Plan,
have you seen them? The criticism of him he announced
the Marshall plan and then the reporter said, well what
does that mean? And he really didn't have any answers
for that, which, Hey, I'm I'm in the school of
(03:26):
give them a break.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I know people are criticizing the quality of our leadership.
If you're on X, wow, it's like overwhelming. But give
him a break. We're in the middle of this.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Well, I give him a little bit of break because
of the wind. But here's something that happened last week.
We had a guest on and I said, you know,
people are really fired up and pissed off that the
fire hydrants were dry. And she said, well, I don't
want to get into the political end of it, the
political end of it. Wait a minute, A dry fire
hydrant is now political.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Well yeah, and it's interesting because what would Mayor Bass
have done if she was here that she didn't do
because she wasn't here.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, what would you know, Governor Knews.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
I mean, there was there's misinformation that the budgets were
this California State's budget was cut.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
There's confusion of the La City fire budget.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
But in an emergency, it's whatever resources are needed are deployed. Well,
it's not like they have to check how much is
in the in the checking account.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I get that, but I think it's a bigger issue.
I think it's you know, this is something that really
stuck with it. It's a microcosm of what I think
is wrong with the city. When she was elected, and
remember that freeway overpass burned up in ten now downtown
for a while.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
So she flew over.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Downtown LA and she said to the pilot, she said, hey,
what is that freeway down there? And he said that's
the one ten. It goes through down and she goes, oh, okay, okay,
And and I thought, I thought that was odd that
she didn't know what the one ten was or where
it was or anything. And maybe she spent a lot
of time in Washington, you know, a lot of time
not here in LA. And also, you know, if you're
(05:10):
going to be the mayor of a city, you've got
to be here. I don't I don't know what's with
the flying over to Africa or Canada or Mexico or
you know anywhere.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I think this is your job.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
You got to stick around, especially with that warning, right yeah, absolutely, yeah.
And also, look, people live in a city, in the
city of Los Angeles, they spend eight hundred million dollars
a year on the fire department and one point five
billion on homelessness. That's that's that's the wrong direction that
you know. I have a feeling a lot of the homeless.
The money going towards the homeless is going to dry up,
(05:42):
and it's going to be put towards other people who
live here in La.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Look, there's a lot of reason to be critical of
the way the city and the county is run. I
call me naive, but I like to believe that our
leaders have their hearts and heads in the right place,
and hindsight is twenty twenty and we elected them there there.
I think we have to support them, not not blindly,
(06:05):
without any criticism or questions. But I don't think right
now is the time to take shots. Yeah, I don't
think there's the station for that. I mean, John is
probably if he's listening to this is probably where where
do we.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Get this guy? Get shut that microphone on? But NPR
NPR's own film.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
I'm I'm as cynical and tough on these people as
the next person. I mean, you talk to Catherine Barger
when we used to have her on live during the pandemic. Uh,
you know she answered the tough questions. I'm all about
tough questions. I'm just you know, you have to do
what's appropriate for the time.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Look, I'm not I'm not saying that, you know, Mayor
Baths could have pulled you know, could have done a
miracle and and put those fires out herself.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
But here's a sports analogy.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
If if your quarterback's not getting the job done, they
still might be a nice guy, and they might be
a good quarterback, but you want somebody who can handle
the job. Sure, And I don't think that she is
up for it. I don't think he's up for it either. Well,
I don't care if it's another Democrat. Bring in another Democrat,
then on an independent Republican, whatever, but bring somebody in
who cares more about the people live here than homelessness
(07:09):
and and nature and water. I mean, we really have to.
We have to really straighten out the way we live
here in southern California. And this is the beginning of it.
I think you're right on the money. This is a
life changing It is a time for us. We're all
going to remember, like pre twenty twenty five fires and
post and for example, when you see the La Times
(07:31):
do that article. And by the way, I think the
La Times is doing a phenomenal job, as are the
TV and radio stations. The one hundred and seventy million
gallon reservoir that was offline for maintenance.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
That's crazy right there.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I'm firing the head of the DWP, but nobody ever
gets fired. But is that a detail that the mayor
should know about? Yes, absolutely, I would agree. Remember, during
the pandemic, thirty billion dollars was stolen through the unemployment department.
Thirty billion dollars was taken out of out of the
state of California fraudulently. Not a single person was fired
or suspended or reprimanded, not one. If I cost this company,
(08:06):
you know, three thousand dollars because I screwed up, I'm
out of here or suspended, or I would have to
pay for it myself.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
But in the public.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Sector there is there's a lot of leeway, you know,
and you just aren't You're not held responsible for anything.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
No, you're absolutely right, and you're absolutely right, And.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
That money we could have used, you know, we have Look,
this is the most beautiful state in the world. It
has the smartest people in the world. In Silicon Valley,
it has the most creative people in the world. Down here,
the coast is the most beautiful coast probably in the world.
And in from the coast in the Central Valley, we
grow some of the greatest nuts and vegetables and fruits
in the whole entire world. But yet we can't get
(08:44):
it together as a society. I don't hear of other
states shutting the electricity off before a big wind storm.
I've never heard of that in Oregon or Washington or Arizona.
And event never heard of it. I've never heard of
hydrants running out of water. I just I think we
have problems here that other states don't, and i'd like
to know why. Well, hopefully you'll be able to get
the answers to side those questions.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I hope.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
So you're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from
kf I am sixty.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
All right, Phil Schumann is with us. Phil, give us
a background on you. I know you worked for Fox forever.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Well.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
I came to Los Angeles a young man in the eighties.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Right across the street looking out the window here at
the channel former Channel fours too. That's right, Channel four,
look at a great group of people, and then made
my way to Fox eleven, where I've been for like
the past twenty years or so. All right, And you know,
looking at these fires, man, just from we've been out
there in Malibu in the Palisades, and and you see
(09:46):
maybe a block is gone, but when you look at these,
especially the aerial photos, it's like a bombing after World
War Two, right. It's it's just the reporters that are
out there, they just come away from it speechless.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Well, you know, before this happened, like you know, two
weeks ago, between Christmas and New Year's if there was
a story where four homes and the Palisades burned to
the ground, that would be a lead story on every
news station.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
We'd do it for two or three days.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
What happened? Were they celebrities' homes? Were they wealthy people?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
What it was going on?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Now, there's twelve thousand homes that have been destroyed in
in Altadena. They eat and fire out there, and those
are the people I really feel horrible for, and you know,
I feel horrible for everybody, but those people out there,
and you know they lived in the flats, They didn't
live in the mountains, and they thought they were protected,
like everyone in the flats. You know, you thought maybe
(10:38):
a house had burned down, but they always able to
get the houses surrounding it to us, you know, to
survive them. And now they and now all of a
sudden Altadena, it blew through the you know, the flats
there and burned them all up.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
It's it's horrible. It's so random because you never know.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
I mean, obviously we've heard risks in Malibu and the mountains,
but you never know what. Look at the Hollywood Hills
the other night, the run In Canyon fire burning down
towards Hollywood Boulevard and Dean Sharp on Saturday morning. The
house Whisper Saturday Sunday was great. He had great information
about the embers and how you have to make sure
that your attic vents or emberproof that's where so many.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Of these fires start.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
And also he talked about a coating you can put
on your house that lasts for twenty four hours that'll
make it fireproof, sure like your own foss check right,
And it's expensive, but you know what's the alternative?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yeah, you know, pumps for your pools and your home.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, but there's a rumor going around that the fire
engines that came from Oregon were stopped because they didn't
have the proper catalytic converters on it.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
That's not true.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
The out of state firefighting resources, including heavy duty vehicles,
they undergo routine inspections and maintenance to ensure safety and
operational readiness. Before deployment. They check the hoses. They also
check and I don't know, and I heard this somewhere.
I hope it's not true. But the fire hydrants or
it may not be universal. I heard that today that
(12:03):
the fire hydrant hookup in New Jersey is different from
you know, Saint Louis, it's different from California.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
I hope that's not true. I'm looking that up, but
I heard. But you know what's interesting on the emissions
on the on the fire trucks is that Gavin Newsom
we talked about this yesterday, went so far. He's so
sensitive to any criticism that they've established. And this is
a good thing California firefactx dot com to debunk myths
(12:29):
like fire engines weren't allowed in because they didn't pass inspection,
right but but or that he defunded fire protection but
you remember last time they were going to have the
Department of Correction in Washington, DC, that one lady was
going to run it and she had that crazy like
uh you know that song that she sang from Mary Poppins.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Remember that that nutty lady was going to run it.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
And so unless you have both independents, Democrats and Republicans
all getting together saying this is not true, that's not true.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
They're half this. You're not gonna believe They're not gonna
believe it.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
By the way, it looks like fire hydrant hookups are
not universally standardized across all regions, which it doesn't make
much sense, does it.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
It's unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah, you know, so as firefighters coming in from Oregon
may not have the proper hookups to tap into the
fire hydrants which are dry anyway, well some yeah, but
but tim who could have predicted one hundred mile per
hour wins in four major fires at the same time, right.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yeah, I mean that's the party line, right.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
And I look, I you know, you can't blame everything
on the governor. I wish you could, or the mayor,
but I mean, nobody's blaming the mayor of Alta dina
for what happened. Yeah, no, that's true, but I think
the mayor. I also think I don't think the Altadena
mayor was in Africa when this whole thing shook down.
And just we've always had the perception of somebody not
(13:50):
being here when the s hits the fan, you know.
And and and it's with the president as well. You know,
when the president's overseas in their natural disaster, they always
get on this on the next flight back to you know.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Well, it seems like they're going out of the way
to make up for it with the eight am briefings,
the two pm briefings, the three pm brief in, and
all they do is thank each other. Well, they start
off with a thanking, which we're not a fan of. Obviously,
the firefighters and the first responders deserve our thanks, but
I'm not sure that's the appropriate setting.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Now, No, I think misunderstood. I love when the firefighters think.
I just don't like politicians thanking other politicans.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And I want to acknowledge Joe Smith, the representative from you,
and they go on and on and on, begau so
God forbid they forget somebody that's right, Okay, well.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
We come back.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
We're going to have what potentially started the Palisades fire,
what started that fire according to an investigation.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
We come back also.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I'll be in at midnight tonight, go home, get some dinner,
I get a little shut out, and then come back
from midnight to three a m. Two night, because we're
in a red flag warning from this evening all the
way to Wednesday. Does that sound familiar. It's exactly what
happened last week. We had warned you last Monday about
these wins. We're doing it again a week later. The
(15:01):
winds are going to pick up again, and so you
got to be prepared. You have to be vigilant. You've
got to be prepared. And I'm gonna be on tonight
midnight to three am with you up all night when
the winds are coming.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
We're up all night. It used to be that way.
Now everybody's up.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Phil Schuman is, well, it's always nice to see you, Bob.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Nice to see I wish it was under better circumstances,
of course, yeah, because we could tell them the old
stories from Chadney's and Jim Heely, I know you're big
Jim Heely, for sure, so was I and Pat Sun
Patrick hardest inventure of the eight day work week. Patrick
Heely is the hardest working guy. And is he still
I think he's retired retired. He's retired, but he would
do five stories a day. And I think he actually
(15:45):
lives out in the Palisades. I haven't been in touch
with him. Leland might be worth checking in with him.
And I'm looking at this headline the La Times. This
is like not what we want to see. Increasing winds
bring potential for quote explosive fire growth. Well, here to
talk about it is James Brotherton and he's with the
National Weather Service. He's with us last week. James, thanks
for coming back, man. I really appreciate you give out
(16:07):
great information. I think you save lines. What's going on
the next couple days?
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Hey, Tim, can you hear me? Okay?
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yes, sir, Yes, sir?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Awesome, awesome. Yeah. We have another significant red flag event underway.
This is going to continue through the day Wednesday. Strong
winds out of the northeast. These are Santa Ana style
winds coming over the mountains down into the valleys and canyons.
We're looking at very strong wind gus not quite as
strong as what we had last week, but still around
(16:39):
sixty miles per hour. But you know, the real problem
is coupled with the very very dry air and the
very dry fuels on the ground, creates explosive and extreme
potential for any fires that do develop. So we are
looking at this as a very very serious situation and
(16:59):
just want to get the word out and we appreciate
you as always helping to helping to get the word
out to everyone. Just be really safe and play it
very very safe here. In the next couple of days.
Good news, after Wednesday, we will see some improving conditions.
Our favorite sea breeze should be kicking in after Wednesday
to bring some relief from that very dry conditions.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
You know, James, last week nobody was spared the seventy
to eighty one hundred mile an hour wind, guys, But
it looks like this time around it's going to be
more centralized. The outlying areas San Diego all the way
up to Santa Barbara are not going to be as
effected as we are here in the valley and different
parts of Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Is that true?
Speaker 1 (17:41):
That's true? This is more of an easterly component to
the Santa Ana, so Ventura County is going to be
more under the gun, but also down into Orange County
they could see some strong winds there as well. But yeah,
last week we had more of a northerly uh Santa
Ana event, and this week it's more of a northeasterly.
(18:04):
So it's just a slight variation, but it does affect
different areas sometimes. So right now we're looking at Ventura
County and interior portions are are probably the areas that
we'll see the strongest wins with this event.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I appreciate you coming on and we'll check in with
you tomorrow and see where we are then.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
All right, Tim, Yeah, look forward to talking to you, Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
All right.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
James Brethernon he's with the National Weather Service, and man, those.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Guys have been busy this week.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Got almighty and they're really good at predicting what you know, winds,
not so much rain, but winds.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
They're pretty eapy.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Next time we want to I want to ask him
what what phenomenon contributes to the winds going from you know,
thirty forty miles an hour up to one hundred miles
an hour.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Why is that happening?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
You know, I saw a special on that there's a
there's an unusual low for this time a year off
the coast, and then there was an unusual high off
of Oregon and California, and they were both spinning and
it made a perfect sort of half loop right into
Los Angeles that they've never seen that before. A strong
low like that and a strong highlight that, and we
(19:14):
were right in the middle of it. They were both spinning,
obviously in the opposite direction. It was like they described
it as, you know, I don't know if your kid
ever played baseball the pitching machine. You know, one wheel
goes one way, one google goes the other way, and
it shoots that ball at you. That's what the low
was doing in the high was doing. That's alanation, and it.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Was shooting that air right into us.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
All right, let's get into the Palisades fire here and
see how this thing started.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
We got some audio here and maybe we can get
some answers. Investigators are in the area right now where
we believe that fire was started, and our Josh Haskell
was there and joins us live and Josh, what are
you seeing?
Speaker 6 (19:50):
Well, earlier today, we were up in the Palisades Highlands community,
specifically around Via A Costa and Via Los Pomis and
the Enclave area. Those homes back right up against the
Santa Monica Mountains, and we saw some LAPD officers there.
There was crime scene tape and they couldn't tell us
why they were there, why they were holding down the area,
but they did say we couldn't go any further. There
(20:12):
weren't any homes up there, and then we saw the
ATF Fire Investigation Mobile Command units show up and then
about fifteen government agents.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I want to go to a little bit.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
Of video just from a short time ago. This is
up in the Palisades a Highlands community. It appears that
the ATF, who is leading this investigation, is focusing on
a particular street in the Palisades Highlands community. They were
out in front of one particular home, a home that
had actually burned, and once all of those agents and
(20:45):
investigators showed up, they asked ABC seven Eye Witness News
to leave. Of course, we backed off behind that yellow
caution tape that they had just put up, and it
does begin that they are really they are really starting
their investigation.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
You know, phil let me ask you something.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
There's a fine line that you guys as reporters and
the on seen reporters nowadays with these with any kind
of natural disaster. I remember there was a big fire
up in Ventura and seven or eight homes got wiped out,
and there was a Channel two was doing a remote
from up there, and a woman came out and said,
this is the worst time of my life.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
And you got a camera in my face.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
So they shut the camera off, and I knew the cameraman,
and I saw what happened, and they shut the camera
off and they talked to her and he told her
off camera, he said, look, the only way we're going
to get you the proper funds you need is to
make sure everybody knows about this. Every governor, you know,
every state legislator, every you know, the mayor.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
The share of everybody.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You need support and the only way you get support
is for us through this camera to show everybody. But
but that's got to be a really sort of difficult dance.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
I would never offer that explanation of if there's a
big enough disaster people are going to know about it.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
That wasn't as big, that was like right, that was
seven or eight houses.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
It is a very delicate situation because you're you're intruding
on people, as you said, at the worst moment of
their life. But at the same time, a lot of
people want to talk because they want to share their story.
It's cathartic, and they participate in the news cycle and
they feel like this might be a moment for them.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
To tell their story, good or bad.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
And then from the reporter's point of view, what would
you like if you're a listener or viewer at home,
you want to hear from the people who are impacted. Sure,
you don't want to hear like a press conference from
the head of you know, cal fire. I mean, that's
part of the bigger story too, but it's just, you know,
getting that first person account is what makes these things
(22:53):
so impactful. And at the moment, I mean, I had
to go through this the other night. We actually packed
up and left in the valley when the sunset fire
broke out earlier in the week, And I are thinking
back how many times I've done that story with the
people in the middle of evacuations and you ask them.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
What are you taking? How do you decide what to
pack in the car? You know, I know.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, And a lot of these cars not nowadays, they're
not as big as they used to go. Well that's
a separate story right now, as they got a prius,
all your crap, all right, we got to take a break.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
We' come back.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I'm going to tell you a personal story here. My
wife and daughter, they have huge hearts. They were very
emotional about this fire, and they went through all their
closet and picked out clothes that maybe they didn't you know,
I love, or didn't fit anymore, or somebody give them
a gift and they want to, you know, they want
to give it to somebody else who could use it.
(23:44):
And my daughter and my wife they put together five huge,
big lad trash bags worth of beautiful clothing. Again, most
of its stuff that their dad, who has no taste
in clothing, gave them for Christmas and their birthday, and
they hated. And so now they're in bags, you know,
and they're driving around all over LA.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
I'll tell you that story. Come back.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
It's Conway Show. Phil Schuman is with us from Fox
eleven News. You're still a Fox eleven News, right I.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Am there on a part time basis, part time full
time all right, all right, Phil Shiman, part time with
Fox eleven News.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
Am six forty.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Let's get back to this story here on how this
fire potentially started, and then I'll tell you the story
that my daughter and my wife had with donating clothing
to the fire victims.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
All right, let's get back into this story here.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
Put up, and it does begin that they are really
they are really starting their investigation as far as collecting evidence.
That is something that we believe that they will do.
We know Air seven has also been overhead that particular neighborhood,
and that really seems to be the point. There have
been so many questions as to was this power related,
(24:58):
was this arson? Was this the human was it so
prior incident? We don't have the answer yet to those questions. Yeah, either,
we do not have the answer yet to exactly what
the cause is.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
But we know at least.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
Now where this investigation into the cause of the Palisades
fire is centering, and that's again up in the Palisades
Highlands communities. We were bringing you these first details.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Okay, all right, Phil, I've heard and maybe you heard
the same thing. Every year, kids up in that area
light off fireworks, they go in that area, they all
meet there, and there was a four acre fire that
started there. And they think that that fire was smolder.
New Year's eat New Year's eat, right, and that fire
was smoldering for up It can smolder for up to
(25:38):
ten days.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
That's what the latest information is, believe it or not.
The Washington Post, of all organizations, was the first one
that reported this. Yeah, and they had previously put out
that fire. The fire department was there and then apparently
yet was smoldering and then the winds kicked up the
embers and reignited it. At least that's the latest information
that's not official from the fire department.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
I'm about two three years ago, maybe four years ago,
the Anaheim Hills caught on fire and there were you
know a couple of houses that were burned to the ground,
and then they put it out, and then three days
later it kicked up again with the winds and fifty
or sixty homes burned. Yeah, And so you know, when
these hand crews go up there, a lot of people think, oh,
what a waste of money to have these guys. You're
(26:20):
making eighty bucks an hour with shovels. But that's not
the waste of time. That's how you prevent these future fires,
and that's where they stay on it. That's right, at
least for a couple of days. Yeah, I don't think
anybody would have expected it to flare up after what
was it, eight days.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Yeah, they're going to get to the bottom of it.
I hope.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
I mean, I don't know if that's the most important
question to answer right now of how it started.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
How it started. It's obviously interesting. It's part of the lining.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
You know, we have this elite, elite ATF team that
comes in looking for evidence.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah, but I think they're working every angle. You know,
they're starting to you know, people they go through a
phase where they're initially panicked, then they're sad, and I
think we're now getting into the upset. People are getting
pissed off and they they're pissed off, but they don't
know who they're pissed off at. They're pissed off at everybody,
the governor, the mayor, the insurance companies that canceled, the victims, everybody. Yeah,
(27:09):
the victims are there, and I understand it, you know,
because a lot of them have never had adversity in
their in their life at all. You know, people in
the Palisades, not all of them, but there are a
lot of people in the Palisades who have a lot
of money. They they've always been, you know, treated properly.
They've always been able to throw money at a problem
when and then make a goal away, and now they
can't do that, and they're frustrated as hell.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Speaking of throwing money at a problem, what are your
thoughts on Rick Caruso and the private firefighters and that
whole issue. Yeah, finally they saved the Palisades shopping center,
his shopping center.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Look, if you have the money to hire your own
private whatever, God bless you. You know, in this country,
that's that's what people do. He also announced a five
million dollar donation to the city and to see that
to the fire fight, Yeah yeah, I mean he's he's
a really you know, a giving guy, and he's angry
as hell to I think everybody is. My wife and
daughter put together five big, glad, black garbage bags of
(28:06):
clothing that they had either you know, they didn't wear
or they wore once and they're in really good shape,
and they put them in the car it was my
daughter's idea. I mean, she's got a heart that's as
big as the Hollywood sign, and God bless her, and
I think she gets my mom, her mom's sign. But
she puts all We put all the five big bags
into my wife's car. They take them down to the
(28:27):
Dream Center. Dream Center was closed, so they understood that.
So they take him to the Rose Bowl Rose Bull
parking Lot one I think it was, and said, hey,
we got five you know, very good and they and
they made sure all the clothes were washed and folded.
It wasn't just you know, willy nilly throwing clothes out there.
And they were separated by seasons. I mean, they really
did a great job. So the people the Rose Ball said,
(28:48):
we're not taking more clothes, and so they said, okay.
Then when they took them to the to the Santa
Anita and Sananita said, we're not taking more clothes. You
can take them Salvation Army. Took the Salvation Army. They
said no. Then took them to the Good they said no.
They took him back to the Dream Center. There are
they're not accepting any more clothing. Now she has five
bags of clothes in the car. And nobody will take them, right.
(29:10):
But I think a month from now, six months from now,
that you know, keep those bags maybe because right now
the initial outpouring of support is overwhelming.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
Because I know, did you see it at sant Anita.
I saw it.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
It looked like a flea market times one hundred, yeah, yeah,
and all free stuff, you know people, uh and and
and you know what, it's really times like this where
we all realize that there's a lot of great people
right left here in La I mean, that's like, could
you call that a silver lining of this disaster so far?
It does bring out the best in people and the worst.
(29:42):
I just listened to Nathan Hawkman, the new District Attorney,
announce all these arrests and prosecutions for for looting in Burglary.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
So and the one guy that was out in Malibu,
he was dressed up as a firefighter and and looting.
And you know, the the days of going light on
looters and and hard criminals are over in La County. Well,
if you listen to that briefing this afternoon with Hawkman
with the city attorney, with the police department, with Sheriff
(30:10):
Luna from the county, it's like there's just this unified
effort to be tough, which obviously is long overdue.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Right, But out of the bad.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Guys sitting on watching the news conferences going geez, you
know what, we bet to call off those plans to
go looting in Brentwood tonight because you know they're talking tough.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yeah, maybe it's a it's a really you know, it's
a really small obviously a small group of people. But
I don't know what the thought process is, you know,
because you don't just go out looting. You have to
think about, you know, where to go and what homes
to hit. I mean, it's gotta be you have some
you have to have some kind of know where what's evacuated.
(30:51):
But a lot of these guys don't do it alone.
They have two or three people with them. Look, I
don't know, I don't know anybody. I have fifteen hundred
content my phone because you know, you meet people over
the years and you keep all the contacts. I would
be hard pressed to find one person in my contacts
that would agree to go with me to loot tonight.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Yeah, not a lot of criminals in your phone, zero.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
But some people have a you know, a circuit or
of people that will help them do that. Yeah, and
they're looking at some of them are looking at nine
years in state prison for that yeah, or longer if
it's there more than their first arrest. It's incredible. And
what are you going to get? You know, what's left behind?
Everything's burned.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Well. We're talking also, though about.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
The evacuated neighborhoods, right, not obviously the burned out houses,
but the evacuated neighborhoods that are vulnerable.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
That's why the National Guard's there.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
I mean, to have that kind of mentality, I don't
know who raised these people. Maybe it's wild desperation, but
it is such a low life.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Thing to do. Unbelievable. You know, these people are at
the absolute worst.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Do you see that one woman, I know, we gotta
take a break here, the one woman who had you know,
one of these services that call up and they'll come
take your couch, you know, the these the big dumpsters,
and they'll come remove.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Bulky item pick items.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Yeah, right, So his lady called the bulky item guy
to pick up you know, four or five couches and
the table and chairs and stuff like that, and they
accidentally or on purpose took her safe from the house
that at one hundred thousand dollars cash and a lot of.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Jewelry as well. I find that hard to believe. I
find it hard to believe. Where did you see that?
I'll come back. I can't.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I don't want to name what websites are you looking at.
I don't want to name the name of the company.
But I'll give you that story, all right when we
when we come back, well, I'll give it to it
during the break, and I'll prove to you that happened.
That happened, all right, Conway. We are live here until
seven o'clock. Then Moe Kelly comes in. Then I'm coming
back tonight at midnight, midnight to three a m. Phil
Schuman's joining us till seven o'clock. We're live on KFI
(32:54):
AM six forty Conway show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Now can always hear us live on k f I
AM six forty four to seven pm Monday through Friday,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
It's k IF.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am six forty and you're listening to the Conway
Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
It is Monday, lots going on, lots going on.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
We get a lot of email, a lot of people
sending us DMS and Facebook stuff and x and everybody's
got an unbelievable story when it comes to this fire.
And then there are a lot of people saying, hey,
can we cut the fire coverage down to like fifty percent?
Like what I said, this is the biggest story in
(00:30):
the world. There's a people that are that need some help,
and speak of help.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Phil Schumann is coming to help us out today. Nice
to see you, Bubba. Are you nice to see you.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
It's just it's words don't describe it, are not sufficient,
and we deal with words.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And when you're out there, there's a different vibe to
the city. You know, there's a different vibe to what's
going on out there. And people are I don't think
they're you know, I think they're on edge and they're
on their last nerve. And I hear horns, I hear
more people, I see more people flipping other people. It's
like I went to the Empire Center day to pick
something up, and I am Burbank in Burbank, and I
(01:08):
went to back into a spot, which I don't normally
like to do because you know, that clogs up everybody.
And I hit the curb, and which I do like
once every fifty years. I'm pretty good at backing a
car up. I could back a boat up, I could
back a car up. And I hit this side curb
and so I had to go forward again. And a
guy yelled at me. He goes that first time.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
Parking like that.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I'm like, oh, bobo, wow, God. People are anxious. Yeah,
understandably they're on their last nard. Well if they're paying attention,
and how do you not. I mean some people are
tuning it out.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
They're overwhelmed, but especially with this forecast and this term
isn't this strange term, particularly dangerous situation.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's the official National Weather Service term.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I record all the local news and it doesn't disappear
until it has to off the DVR. So I'm back
and listened to Thursday before the fire fire started on Tuesday.
I listened to it Thursday on Channel two, five and seven.
They at the top of those newscasts, they were talking
about the wind. Sure at the top of the newscast
the Thursday before it happened, all three lead story was
(02:15):
the wind and yet our mayriage took off.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
And then on Monday, after she was gone, the.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
Warning was life threatening, and I said, I was thinking
to myself, they're trying to scare us. Is that really necessary?
Life threatening and dangerous winds? I'd never heard that before,
and they're right, and it obviously turned out to be right.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
But you know, I have a friend who I got
I got actually two friends up in the Highlands area
and both their homes made it by you know. They
I have my sister lose out in Malibu and thank god,
you know, her apartment made it. But she's not gonna
be allowed in for four to six weeks. And then
even when she's allowed back in, what does that look like?
You know, there's gonna be cleaning up and construction, you know,
(03:01):
for five years.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Oh easily.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
And it's we're not even a week into this, and
we already got to be thinking about we're looking at
years of cleanup of rebuilding tomorrow. Governor Knewsom, the Marshall Plan,
have you seen them? The criticism of him he announced
the Marshall plan and then the reporter said, well what
does that mean? And he really didn't have any answers
for that, which, Hey, I'm I'm in the school of
(03:26):
give them a break.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I know people are criticizing the quality of our leadership.
If you're on X, wow, it's like overwhelming. But give
him a break. We're in the middle of this.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Well, I give him a little bit of break because
of the wind. But here's something that happened last week.
We had a guest on and I said, you know,
people are really fired up and pissed off that the
fire hydrants were dry. And she said, well, I don't
want to get into the political end of it, the
political end of it. Wait a minute, A dry fire
hydrant is now political.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Well yeah, and it's interesting because what would Mayor Bass
have done if she was here that she didn't do
because she wasn't here.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, what would you know, Governor Knews.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
I mean, there was there's misinformation that the budgets were
this California State's budget was cut.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
There's confusion of the La City fire budget.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
But in an emergency, it's whatever resources are needed are deployed. Well,
it's not like they have to check how much is
in the in the checking account.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I get that, but I think it's a bigger issue.
I think it's you know, this is something that really
stuck with it. It's a microcosm of what I think
is wrong with the city. When she was elected, and
remember that freeway overpass burned up in ten now downtown
for a while.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
So she flew over.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Downtown LA and she said to the pilot, she said, hey,
what is that freeway down there? And he said that's
the one ten. It goes through down and she goes, oh, okay, okay,
And and I thought, I thought that was odd that
she didn't know what the one ten was or where
it was or anything. And maybe she spent a lot
of time in Washington, you know, a lot of time
not here in LA. And also, you know, if you're
(05:10):
going to be the mayor of a city, you've got
to be here. I don't I don't know what's with
the flying over to Africa or Canada or Mexico or
you know anywhere.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I think this is your job.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
You got to stick around, especially with that warning, right yeah, absolutely, yeah.
And also, look, people live in a city, in the
city of Los Angeles, they spend eight hundred million dollars
a year on the fire department and one point five
billion on homelessness. That's that's that's the wrong direction that
you know. I have a feeling a lot of the homeless.
The money going towards the homeless is going to dry up,
(05:42):
and it's going to be put towards other people who
live here in La.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Look, there's a lot of reason to be critical of
the way the city and the county is run. I
call me naive, but I like to believe that our
leaders have their hearts and heads in the right place,
and hindsight is twenty twenty and we elected them there there.
I think we have to support them, not not blindly,
(06:05):
without any criticism or questions. But I don't think right
now is the time to take shots. Yeah, I don't
think there's the station for that. I mean, John is
probably if he's listening to this is probably where where
do we.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Get this guy? Get shut that microphone on? But NPR
NPR's own film.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
I'm I'm as cynical and tough on these people as
the next person. I mean, you talk to Catherine Barger
when we used to have her on live during the pandemic. Uh,
you know she answered the tough questions. I'm all about
tough questions. I'm just you know, you have to do
what's appropriate for the time.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Look, I'm not I'm not saying that, you know, Mayor
Baths could have pulled you know, could have done a
miracle and and put those fires out herself.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
But here's a sports analogy.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
If if your quarterback's not getting the job done, they
still might be a nice guy, and they might be
a good quarterback, but you want somebody who can handle
the job. Sure, And I don't think that she is
up for it. I don't think he's up for it either. Well,
I don't care if it's another Democrat. Bring in another Democrat,
then on an independent Republican, whatever, but bring somebody in
who cares more about the people live here than homelessness
(07:09):
and and nature and water. I mean, we really have to.
We have to really straighten out the way we live
here in southern California. And this is the beginning of it.
I think you're right on the money. This is a
life changing It is a time for us. We're all
going to remember, like pre twenty twenty five fires and
post and for example, when you see the La Times
(07:31):
do that article. And by the way, I think the
La Times is doing a phenomenal job, as are the
TV and radio stations. The one hundred and seventy million
gallon reservoir that was offline for maintenance.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
That's crazy right there.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
I'm firing the head of the DWP, but nobody ever
gets fired. But is that a detail that the mayor
should know about? Yes, absolutely, I would agree. Remember, during
the pandemic, thirty billion dollars was stolen through the unemployment department.
Thirty billion dollars was taken out of out of the
state of California fraudulently. Not a single person was fired
or suspended or reprimanded, not one. If I cost this company,
(08:06):
you know, three thousand dollars because I screwed up, I'm
out of here or suspended, or I would have to
pay for it myself.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
But in the public.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Sector there is there's a lot of leeway, you know,
and you just aren't You're not held responsible for anything.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
No, you're absolutely right, and you're absolutely right, And.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
That money we could have used, you know, we have Look,
this is the most beautiful state in the world. It
has the smartest people in the world. In Silicon Valley,
it has the most creative people in the world. Down here,
the coast is the most beautiful coast probably in the world.
And in from the coast in the Central Valley, we
grow some of the greatest nuts and vegetables and fruits
in the whole entire world. But yet we can't get
(08:44):
it together as a society. I don't hear of other
states shutting the electricity off before a big wind storm.
I've never heard of that in Oregon or Washington or Arizona.
And event never heard of it. I've never heard of
hydrants running out of water. I just I think we
have problems here that other states don't, and i'd like
to know why. Well, hopefully you'll be able to get
the answers to side those questions.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I hope.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
So you're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from
kf I am sixty.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
All right, Phil Schumann is with us. Phil, give us
a background on you. I know you worked for Fox forever.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Well.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
I came to Los Angeles a young man in the eighties.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Right across the street looking out the window here at
the channel former Channel fours too. That's right, Channel four,
look at a great group of people, and then made
my way to Fox eleven, where I've been for like
the past twenty years or so. All right, And you know,
looking at these fires, man, just from we've been out
there in Malibu in the Palisades, and and you see
(09:46):
maybe a block is gone, but when you look at these,
especially the aerial photos, it's like a bombing after World
War Two, right. It's it's just the reporters that are
out there, they just come away from it speechless.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Well, you know, before this happened, like you know, two
weeks ago, between Christmas and New Year's if there was
a story where four homes and the Palisades burned to
the ground, that would be a lead story on every
news station.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
We'd do it for two or three days.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
What happened? Were they celebrities' homes? Were they wealthy people?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
What it was going on?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Now, there's twelve thousand homes that have been destroyed in
in Altadena. They eat and fire out there, and those
are the people I really feel horrible for, and you know,
I feel horrible for everybody, but those people out there,
and you know they lived in the flats, They didn't
live in the mountains, and they thought they were protected,
like everyone in the flats. You know, you thought maybe
(10:38):
a house had burned down, but they always able to
get the houses surrounding it to us, you know, to
survive them. And now they and now all of a
sudden Altadena, it blew through the you know, the flats
there and burned them all up.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
It's it's horrible. It's so random because you never know.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
I mean, obviously we've heard risks in Malibu and the mountains,
but you never know what. Look at the Hollywood Hills
the other night, the run In Canyon fire burning down
towards Hollywood Boulevard and Dean Sharp on Saturday morning. The
house Whisper Saturday Sunday was great. He had great information
about the embers and how you have to make sure
that your attic vents or emberproof that's where so many.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Of these fires start.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
And also he talked about a coating you can put
on your house that lasts for twenty four hours that'll
make it fireproof, sure like your own foss check right,
And it's expensive, but you know what's the alternative?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yeah, you know, pumps for your pools and your home.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, but there's a rumor going around that the fire
engines that came from Oregon were stopped because they didn't
have the proper catalytic converters on it.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
That's not true.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
The out of state firefighting resources, including heavy duty vehicles,
they undergo routine inspections and maintenance to ensure safety and
operational readiness. Before deployment. They check the hoses. They also
check and I don't know, and I heard this somewhere.
I hope it's not true. But the fire hydrants or
it may not be universal. I heard that today that
(12:03):
the fire hydrant hookup in New Jersey is different from
you know, Saint Louis, it's different from California.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
I hope that's not true. I'm looking that up, but
I heard. But you know what's interesting on the emissions
on the on the fire trucks is that Gavin Newsom
we talked about this yesterday, went so far. He's so
sensitive to any criticism that they've established. And this is
a good thing California firefactx dot com to debunk myths
(12:29):
like fire engines weren't allowed in because they didn't pass inspection,
right but but or that he defunded fire protection but
you remember last time they were going to have the
Department of Correction in Washington, DC, that one lady was
going to run it and she had that crazy like
uh you know that song that she sang from Mary Poppins.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Remember that that nutty lady was going to run it.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
And so unless you have both independents, Democrats and Republicans
all getting together saying this is not true, that's not true.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
They're half this. You're not gonna believe They're not gonna
believe it.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
By the way, it looks like fire hydrant hookups are
not universally standardized across all regions, which it doesn't make
much sense, does it.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
It's unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah, you know, so as firefighters coming in from Oregon
may not have the proper hookups to tap into the
fire hydrants which are dry anyway, well some yeah, but
but tim who could have predicted one hundred mile per
hour wins in four major fires at the same time, right.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yeah, I mean that's the party line, right.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
And I look, I you know, you can't blame everything
on the governor. I wish you could, or the mayor,
but I mean, nobody's blaming the mayor of Alta dina
for what happened. Yeah, no, that's true, but I think
the mayor. I also think I don't think the Altadena
mayor was in Africa when this whole thing shook down.
And just we've always had the perception of somebody not
(13:50):
being here when the s hits the fan, you know.
And and and it's with the president as well. You know,
when the president's overseas in their natural disaster, they always
get on this on the next flight back to you know.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Well, it seems like they're going out of the way
to make up for it with the eight am briefings,
the two pm briefings, the three pm brief in, and
all they do is thank each other. Well, they start
off with a thanking, which we're not a fan of. Obviously,
the firefighters and the first responders deserve our thanks, but
I'm not sure that's the appropriate setting.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Now, No, I think misunderstood. I love when the firefighters think.
I just don't like politicians thanking other politicans.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And I want to acknowledge Joe Smith, the representative from you,
and they go on and on and on, begau so
God forbid they forget somebody that's right, Okay, well.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
We come back.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
We're going to have what potentially started the Palisades fire,
what started that fire according to an investigation.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
We come back also.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I'll be in at midnight tonight, go home, get some dinner,
I get a little shut out, and then come back
from midnight to three a m. Two night, because we're
in a red flag warning from this evening all the
way to Wednesday. Does that sound familiar. It's exactly what
happened last week. We had warned you last Monday about
these wins. We're doing it again a week later. The
(15:01):
winds are going to pick up again, and so you
got to be prepared. You have to be vigilant. You've
got to be prepared. And I'm gonna be on tonight
midnight to three am with you up all night when
the winds are coming.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
We're up all night. It used to be that way.
Now everybody's up.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Phil Schuman is, well, it's always nice to see you, Bob.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Nice to see I wish it was under better circumstances,
of course, yeah, because we could tell them the old
stories from Chadney's and Jim Heely, I know you're big
Jim Heely, for sure, so was I and Pat Sun
Patrick hardest inventure of the eight day work week. Patrick
Heely is the hardest working guy. And is he still
I think he's retired retired. He's retired, but he would
do five stories a day. And I think he actually
(15:45):
lives out in the Palisades. I haven't been in touch
with him. Leland might be worth checking in with him.
And I'm looking at this headline the La Times. This
is like not what we want to see. Increasing winds
bring potential for quote explosive fire growth. Well, here to
talk about it is James Brotherton and he's with the
National Weather Service. He's with us last week. James, thanks
for coming back, man. I really appreciate you give out
(16:07):
great information. I think you save lines. What's going on
the next couple days?
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Hey, Tim, can you hear me? Okay?
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yes, sir, Yes, sir?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Awesome, awesome. Yeah. We have another significant red flag event underway.
This is going to continue through the day Wednesday. Strong
winds out of the northeast. These are Santa Ana style
winds coming over the mountains down into the valleys and canyons.
We're looking at very strong wind gus not quite as
strong as what we had last week, but still around
(16:39):
sixty miles per hour. But you know, the real problem
is coupled with the very very dry air and the
very dry fuels on the ground, creates explosive and extreme
potential for any fires that do develop. So we are
looking at this as a very very serious situation and
(16:59):
just want to get the word out and we appreciate
you as always helping to helping to get the word
out to everyone. Just be really safe and play it
very very safe here. In the next couple of days.
Good news, after Wednesday, we will see some improving conditions.
Our favorite sea breeze should be kicking in after Wednesday
to bring some relief from that very dry conditions.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
You know, James, last week nobody was spared the seventy
to eighty one hundred mile an hour wind, guys, But
it looks like this time around it's going to be
more centralized. The outlying areas San Diego all the way
up to Santa Barbara are not going to be as
effected as we are here in the valley and different
parts of Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Is that true?
Speaker 1 (17:41):
That's true? This is more of an easterly component to
the Santa Ana, so Ventura County is going to be
more under the gun, but also down into Orange County
they could see some strong winds there as well. But yeah,
last week we had more of a northerly uh Santa
Ana event, and this week it's more of a northeasterly.
(18:04):
So it's just a slight variation, but it does affect
different areas sometimes. So right now we're looking at Ventura
County and interior portions are are probably the areas that
we'll see the strongest wins with this event.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I appreciate you coming on and we'll check in with
you tomorrow and see where we are then.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
All right, Tim, Yeah, look forward to talking to you, Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
All right.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
James Brethernon he's with the National Weather Service, and man, those.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Guys have been busy this week.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Got almighty and they're really good at predicting what you know, winds,
not so much rain, but winds.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
They're pretty eapy.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Next time we want to I want to ask him
what what phenomenon contributes to the winds going from you know,
thirty forty miles an hour up to one hundred miles
an hour.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Why is that happening?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
You know, I saw a special on that there's a
there's an unusual low for this time a year off
the coast, and then there was an unusual high off
of Oregon and California, and they were both spinning and
it made a perfect sort of half loop right into
Los Angeles that they've never seen that before. A strong
low like that and a strong highlight that, and we
(19:14):
were right in the middle of it. They were both spinning,
obviously in the opposite direction. It was like they described
it as, you know, I don't know if your kid
ever played baseball the pitching machine. You know, one wheel
goes one way, one google goes the other way, and
it shoots that ball at you. That's what the low
was doing in the high was doing. That's alanation, and it.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Was shooting that air right into us.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
All right, let's get into the Palisades fire here and
see how this thing started.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
We got some audio here and maybe we can get
some answers. Investigators are in the area right now where
we believe that fire was started, and our Josh Haskell
was there and joins us live and Josh, what are
you seeing?
Speaker 6 (19:50):
Well, earlier today, we were up in the Palisades Highlands community,
specifically around Via A Costa and Via Los Pomis and
the Enclave area. Those homes back right up against the
Santa Monica Mountains, and we saw some LAPD officers there.
There was crime scene tape and they couldn't tell us
why they were there, why they were holding down the area,
but they did say we couldn't go any further. There
(20:12):
weren't any homes up there, and then we saw the
ATF Fire Investigation Mobile Command units show up and then
about fifteen government agents.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I want to go to a little bit.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
Of video just from a short time ago. This is
up in the Palisades a Highlands community. It appears that
the ATF, who is leading this investigation, is focusing on
a particular street in the Palisades Highlands community. They were
out in front of one particular home, a home that
had actually burned, and once all of those agents and
(20:45):
investigators showed up, they asked ABC seven Eye Witness News
to leave. Of course, we backed off behind that yellow
caution tape that they had just put up, and it
does begin that they are really they are really starting
their investigation.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
You know, phil let me ask you something.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
There's a fine line that you guys as reporters and
the on seen reporters nowadays with these with any kind
of natural disaster. I remember there was a big fire
up in Ventura and seven or eight homes got wiped out,
and there was a Channel two was doing a remote
from up there, and a woman came out and said,
this is the worst time of my life.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
And you got a camera in my face.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
So they shut the camera off, and I knew the cameraman,
and I saw what happened, and they shut the camera
off and they talked to her and he told her
off camera, he said, look, the only way we're going
to get you the proper funds you need is to
make sure everybody knows about this. Every governor, you know,
every state legislator, every you know, the mayor.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
The share of everybody.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You need support and the only way you get support
is for us through this camera to show everybody. But
but that's got to be a really sort of difficult dance.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
I would never offer that explanation of if there's a
big enough disaster people are going to know about it.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
That wasn't as big, that was like right, that was
seven or eight houses.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
It is a very delicate situation because you're you're intruding
on people, as you said, at the worst moment of
their life. But at the same time, a lot of
people want to talk because they want to share their story.
It's cathartic, and they participate in the news cycle and
they feel like this might be a moment for them.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
To tell their story, good or bad.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
And then from the reporter's point of view, what would
you like if you're a listener or viewer at home,
you want to hear from the people who are impacted. Sure,
you don't want to hear like a press conference from
the head of you know, cal fire. I mean, that's
part of the bigger story too, but it's just, you know,
getting that first person account is what makes these things
(22:53):
so impactful. And at the moment, I mean, I had
to go through this the other night. We actually packed
up and left in the valley when the sunset fire
broke out earlier in the week, And I are thinking
back how many times I've done that story with the
people in the middle of evacuations and you ask them.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
What are you taking? How do you decide what to
pack in the car? You know, I know.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, And a lot of these cars not nowadays, they're
not as big as they used to go. Well that's
a separate story right now, as they got a prius,
all your crap, all right, we got to take a break.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
We' come back.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I'm going to tell you a personal story here. My
wife and daughter, they have huge hearts. They were very
emotional about this fire, and they went through all their
closet and picked out clothes that maybe they didn't you know,
I love, or didn't fit anymore, or somebody give them
a gift and they want to, you know, they want
to give it to somebody else who could use it.
(23:44):
And my daughter and my wife they put together five huge,
big lad trash bags worth of beautiful clothing. Again, most
of its stuff that their dad, who has no taste
in clothing, gave them for Christmas and their birthday, and
they hated. And so now they're in bags, you know,
and they're driving around all over LA.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
I'll tell you that story. Come back.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
It's Conway Show. Phil Schuman is with us from Fox
eleven News. You're still a Fox eleven News, right I.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Am there on a part time basis, part time full
time all right, all right, Phil Shiman, part time with
Fox eleven News.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
Am six forty.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Let's get back to this story here on how this
fire potentially started, and then I'll tell you the story
that my daughter and my wife had with donating clothing
to the fire victims.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
All right, let's get back into this story here.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
Put up, and it does begin that they are really
they are really starting their investigation as far as collecting evidence.
That is something that we believe that they will do.
We know Air seven has also been overhead that particular neighborhood,
and that really seems to be the point. There have
been so many questions as to was this power related,
(24:58):
was this arson? Was this the human was it so
prior incident? We don't have the answer yet to those questions. Yeah, either,
we do not have the answer yet to exactly what
the cause is.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
But we know at least.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
Now where this investigation into the cause of the Palisades
fire is centering, and that's again up in the Palisades
Highlands communities. We were bringing you these first details.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Okay, all right, Phil, I've heard and maybe you heard
the same thing. Every year, kids up in that area
light off fireworks, they go in that area, they all
meet there, and there was a four acre fire that
started there. And they think that that fire was smolder.
New Year's eat New Year's eat, right, and that fire
was smoldering for up It can smolder for up to
(25:38):
ten days.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
That's what the latest information is, believe it or not.
The Washington Post, of all organizations, was the first one
that reported this. Yeah, and they had previously put out
that fire. The fire department was there and then apparently
yet was smoldering and then the winds kicked up the
embers and reignited it. At least that's the latest information
that's not official from the fire department.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
I'm about two three years ago, maybe four years ago,
the Anaheim Hills caught on fire and there were you
know a couple of houses that were burned to the ground,
and then they put it out, and then three days
later it kicked up again with the winds and fifty
or sixty homes burned. Yeah, And so you know, when
these hand crews go up there, a lot of people think, oh,
what a waste of money to have these guys. You're
(26:20):
making eighty bucks an hour with shovels. But that's not
the waste of time. That's how you prevent these future fires,
and that's where they stay on it. That's right, at
least for a couple of days. Yeah, I don't think
anybody would have expected it to flare up after what
was it, eight days.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Yeah, they're going to get to the bottom of it.
I hope.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
I mean, I don't know if that's the most important
question to answer right now of how it started.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
How it started. It's obviously interesting. It's part of the lining.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
You know, we have this elite, elite ATF team that
comes in looking for evidence.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah, but I think they're working every angle. You know,
they're starting to you know, people they go through a
phase where they're initially panicked, then they're sad, and I
think we're now getting into the upset. People are getting
pissed off and they they're pissed off, but they don't
know who they're pissed off at. They're pissed off at everybody,
the governor, the mayor, the insurance companies that canceled, the victims, everybody. Yeah,
(27:09):
the victims are there, and I understand it, you know,
because a lot of them have never had adversity in
their in their life at all. You know, people in
the Palisades, not all of them, but there are a
lot of people in the Palisades who have a lot
of money. They they've always been, you know, treated properly.
They've always been able to throw money at a problem
when and then make a goal away, and now they
can't do that, and they're frustrated as hell.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Speaking of throwing money at a problem, what are your
thoughts on Rick Caruso and the private firefighters and that
whole issue. Yeah, finally they saved the Palisades shopping center,
his shopping center.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Look, if you have the money to hire your own
private whatever, God bless you. You know, in this country,
that's that's what people do. He also announced a five
million dollar donation to the city and to see that
to the fire fight, Yeah yeah, I mean he's he's
a really you know, a giving guy, and he's angry
as hell to I think everybody is. My wife and
daughter put together five big, glad, black garbage bags of
(28:06):
clothing that they had either you know, they didn't wear
or they wore once and they're in really good shape,
and they put them in the car it was my
daughter's idea. I mean, she's got a heart that's as
big as the Hollywood sign, and God bless her, and
I think she gets my mom, her mom's sign. But
she puts all We put all the five big bags
into my wife's car. They take them down to the
(28:27):
Dream Center. Dream Center was closed, so they understood that.
So they take him to the Rose Bowl Rose Bull
parking Lot one I think it was, and said, hey,
we got five you know, very good and they and
they made sure all the clothes were washed and folded.
It wasn't just you know, willy nilly throwing clothes out there.
And they were separated by seasons. I mean, they really
did a great job. So the people the Rose Ball said,
(28:48):
we're not taking more clothes, and so they said, okay.
Then when they took them to the to the Santa
Anita and Sananita said, we're not taking more clothes. You
can take them Salvation Army. Took the Salvation Army. They
said no. Then took them to the Good they said no.
They took him back to the Dream Center. There are
they're not accepting any more clothing. Now she has five
bags of clothes in the car. And nobody will take them, right.
(29:10):
But I think a month from now, six months from now,
that you know, keep those bags maybe because right now
the initial outpouring of support is overwhelming.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
Because I know, did you see it at sant Anita.
I saw it.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
It looked like a flea market times one hundred, yeah, yeah,
and all free stuff, you know people, uh and and
and you know what, it's really times like this where
we all realize that there's a lot of great people
right left here in La I mean, that's like, could
you call that a silver lining of this disaster so far?
It does bring out the best in people and the worst.
(29:42):
I just listened to Nathan Hawkman, the new District Attorney,
announce all these arrests and prosecutions for for looting in Burglary.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
So and the one guy that was out in Malibu,
he was dressed up as a firefighter and and looting.
And you know, the the days of going light on
looters and and hard criminals are over in La County. Well,
if you listen to that briefing this afternoon with Hawkman
with the city attorney, with the police department, with Sheriff
(30:10):
Luna from the county, it's like there's just this unified
effort to be tough, which obviously is long overdue.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Right, But out of the bad.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Guys sitting on watching the news conferences going geez, you
know what, we bet to call off those plans to
go looting in Brentwood tonight because you know they're talking tough.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yeah, maybe it's a it's a really you know, it's
a really small obviously a small group of people. But
I don't know what the thought process is, you know,
because you don't just go out looting. You have to
think about, you know, where to go and what homes
to hit. I mean, it's gotta be you have some
you have to have some kind of know where what's evacuated.
(30:51):
But a lot of these guys don't do it alone.
They have two or three people with them. Look, I
don't know, I don't know anybody. I have fifteen hundred
content my phone because you know, you meet people over
the years and you keep all the contacts. I would
be hard pressed to find one person in my contacts
that would agree to go with me to loot tonight.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Yeah, not a lot of criminals in your phone, zero.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
But some people have a you know, a circuit or
of people that will help them do that. Yeah, and
they're looking at some of them are looking at nine
years in state prison for that yeah, or longer if
it's there more than their first arrest. It's incredible. And
what are you going to get? You know, what's left behind?
Everything's burned.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Well. We're talking also, though about.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
The evacuated neighborhoods, right, not obviously the burned out houses,
but the evacuated neighborhoods that are vulnerable.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
That's why the National Guard's there.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
I mean, to have that kind of mentality, I don't
know who raised these people. Maybe it's wild desperation, but
it is such a low life.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Thing to do. Unbelievable. You know, these people are at
the absolute worst.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Do you see that one woman, I know, we gotta
take a break here, the one woman who had you know,
one of these services that call up and they'll come
take your couch, you know, the these the big dumpsters,
and they'll come remove.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Bulky item pick items.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Yeah, right, So his lady called the bulky item guy
to pick up you know, four or five couches and
the table and chairs and stuff like that, and they
accidentally or on purpose took her safe from the house
that at one hundred thousand dollars cash and a lot of.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Jewelry as well. I find that hard to believe. I
find it hard to believe. Where did you see that?
I'll come back. I can't.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I don't want to name what websites are you looking at.
I don't want to name the name of the company.
But I'll give you that story, all right when we
when we come back, well, I'll give it to it
during the break, and I'll prove to you that happened.
That happened, all right, Conway. We are live here until
seven o'clock. Then Moe Kelly comes in. Then I'm coming
back tonight at midnight, midnight to three a m. Phil
Schuman's joining us till seven o'clock. We're live on KFI
(32:54):
AM six forty Conway show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Now can always hear us live on k f I
AM six forty four to seven pm Monday through Friday,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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