January 16, 2025 • 39 mins
(Thursday 01/16/25)
Los Angeles County hosts One Voice Media Briefing presenting the latest updates on impacts from the windstorm event affecting the Los Angeles region, including wildfires, power outages, road conditions and other updates. Host of ‘How to Money’ Joel Larsgaard joins the show to talk about fire victims’ scams and homeowners' insurance. How the LA fires could exacerbate California’s homelessness crisis.
Los Angeles County hosts One Voice Media Briefing presenting the latest updates on impacts from the windstorm event affecting the Los Angeles region, including wildfires, power outages, road conditions and other updates. Host of ‘How to Money’ Joel Larsgaard joins the show to talk about fire victims’ scams and homeowners' insurance. How the LA fires could exacerbate California’s homelessness crisis.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Your list Saints KFI AM six forty The Bill Handles
show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We're now going to go to the latest update on
the fires in southern California apartment. The Eton Fire remains
estimated at fourteen thousand, one hundred and seventeen acres with
fifty five percent containment. Over seven thousand structures are damaged
or destroyed, and we have three thousand, four hundred and
(00:29):
four firefighting personnel assigned to the incident. Sixty percent of
our damage inspections for the Eton Fire are completed. Impacted
residents may continue to visit Recovery dot LA County dot
gov to view maps showing damage assessments. Please note that
(00:52):
these maps are being updated daily. A limited red flag
warning remains in effect through three today for the Santa
Susanna Mountains, the western San Gabriel Mountains, and the I
five Corridor. We look forward to the weather conditions returning
to normal this evening. However, a moderate red flag event
(01:16):
is predicted for this coming Monday and Tuesday. Please be
assured that our firefighters continue to work twenty four to
seven to achieve full containment of these wildfires as fast
as we can. We continue to plan for the repopulation
of evacuated areas when safe. The repopulation of residents in
(01:40):
the evacuation order areas will not occur for at least
one more week for the areas that are deemed safe.
So when I say one more week, that does not
include the entire evacuation order area. We're doing our best
(02:02):
as we know that this is a challenge for our residents. Today,
we are focused on efforts to reset department staffing to
ensure our personnel get the much needed and overdue rest
and recovery they require after being at work and on
the line for the last eight to nine days.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Straight without a break.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I'm also mindful that many of our firefighters will continue
to be assigned to these ongoing incidents, working side by
side with fellow first responders. Yesterday, the Los Angeles County
Fire Department made good progress towards partnering with a reputable
five OHO one C three that we'll be able to
(02:45):
accept cash checks and electronic donations for the Los Angeles
County Fire Department. I ask interested donors to be patient
as we finalize our donation process, and I thank you
for wanting to support our brave Los Angeles County Fire
(03:05):
Department firefighters. I would now like to introduce Jerry mcgania,
Deputy Incident Commander cal Fire Incident Management Team too.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Thank you, Chief. Good morning once again, Jeremyganian, Deputy Chief
Incident Commander. For both the Palisades and the Eton incident.
In the last twenty four hours, there has been little
to no fire growth, with exception on the Palisades, we've
had several interior pockets continuing to burn. Threats still exist
(03:41):
with structures and critical infrastructure, and crews continue to strengthen
fire perimeter and coordinate infrastructure repairs use. Our operations continue
on both incidents and are moving quickly through the areas
with minimal impact.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
We continue to.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Preposition resources and we currently have a mobilization center in
Riverside County at Belmont that are available for any potential
new starts. CalFire will continue to support our partners in
unified command, and we would like to request that you
remain patient with us during this difficult time. For the
(04:19):
most current fire information, please visit fire dot CA dot
GOLV and next, I'd like to introduce La City Fire Chief.
Speaker 6 (04:27):
Thankfully, well, good morning, everyone, and due to the continued
around the clock efforts of our firefighters, first responders, and
all those that are assigned to the incident, we are
very fortunate that this last win event did not cause
any expansion of.
Speaker 7 (04:47):
The Palisades fire.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
In addition, as I mentioned yesterday, the brush fire in
the Lakeview Terrace area of Los Angeles was aggressively attacked
and halted.
Speaker 7 (04:57):
We appreciate, truly appreciate.
Speaker 6 (04:59):
The CA community and how they've remained alert and followed
all advice. Together, we were able to move forward in
the recovery of these devastating fires.
Speaker 7 (05:11):
As we take a step back.
Speaker 6 (05:12):
And we've made it through this wind event, I think
it's really important just briefly we talk about the winds
aren't necessarily here in the city, but with that we
still have gosh a large amount of unburned dry fuel
with low humidity.
Speaker 7 (05:29):
We need to make sure that the.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
Community is thinking about how to prepare and prevent at
this point.
Speaker 7 (05:35):
And also what we just heard is there's.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
A potential Santa Ana winds coming Monday and Tuesday. Now
to focus on a different area as we're coming out
of these wind events, for unimpacted areas of the city.
Just as we take a big step back, there are
more extreme winds on the horizons, like I said, next week,
and our community needs to remain ready. It is important
(06:01):
that you protect yourselves and your family by planning, preparing,
and staying aware. Flying members from a wildfire can destroy
homes over a mile away. Taking the necessary measures to
prepare your home can help increase its chance of survival
when wildland fires strike. Clear all brush within two hundred
(06:25):
feet of your home, allow the LFD and other first
responders that fighting chance to respond quickly if a wildfire
reaches your community. For more information, visit LFD dot org
BackFlash Wildfire. I will now provide an update on the
Palisades fire. The fire is twenty three seven hundred and
(06:47):
thirteen acres with twenty two percent containment with five thousand
and thirty two personnel assigned. Using infrared mapping, air and
ground resources continue to seek out hotspots and putting them out.
Favorable weather conditions assisted firefighters in increasing the containment and extinguishment.
(07:08):
Now I know that the question of all of us
up here is on the top of your minds of
when we can return and you can return back to
the communities I can tell you know that we are
working as quickly as possible to do just that, to
make sure that this is safe for you to return
to your communities. The ongoing search and rescue mission continues
(07:30):
to limit utility agencies' abilities to repair infrastructure. I can
tell you the entire city family is working collaboratively to
get you back into your homes and communities as soon
and as safely as possible. I just want to give
you one small example of this. Yesterday, our hazmat teams
(07:50):
from across the state work tirelessly for the purpose of
ensuring that when the evacuation orders are lifted, our community
members can rest assured that their homes have been scanned
and screened and cleared of any dangerous chemicals. This will
take time, so when we ask you to remain patient,
(08:13):
know that together we are working around the clock to
get you back to your homes into the community. With that,
I would now like to introduce Sheriff Luna.
Speaker 8 (08:27):
Good morning, Robert Luna, Sheriff of Los Angeles County. Personnel
deployment it remains about the same. We have about thirteen
hundred deputies to both incidences, both that they eat and
file and Palisades fire. We have about two hundred and
twenty California Highway Patrol officers. The governor asked that we
(08:49):
surge more CHP officers into both areas from a looting perspective,
so they've been working with our folks to do that.
So I thank the governor for his support. We still
have assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration from the Los
Angeles Filed Office. We have over twenty agents with us
that are assisting US, and we still continue to have
(09:12):
well over nine hundred California National Guard personnel that are
assisting multiple agencies in our area. The impacted area here,
evacuation orders remain. They fluctuate between one hundred here, one
hundred there. They go up, they go down, but under
evacuation orders about eighty two thousand, four hundred warnings about
(09:37):
the same as yesterday ninety thousand, four hundred. Please keep
up with the information we're putting out because that could change,
hopefully for the better, but we'll see what happens. The
curfew is still in effect from six pm to six am,
so again, you don't belong there, Please do not go there.
(09:59):
Regarding a rep for the La County Sheriffs area. Our
total is at forty seven. We have thirty six at
the Eton incident and eleven at the Palisades incident. Palisades
increased by several last night three thirty six or I'm sorry,
Eaton did not increase the arrests that were. We continue
(10:22):
to see and I want to just appoint a clarification
for our community members. One is I talk about curfew,
which takes place from six pm to six am. There
is another penal code that we use during the day
because if you are not supposed to be in an
evacuation order area and a law enforcement officer, deputy sheriff, CHP, officer, LAPD,
(10:48):
whoever it is, tells you to leave and you refuse
to leave, you are subject to arrest during the day
as well. I just want to clarify that again. If
you do not have any legitimate business day or night,
do not go. You are subject to arrest. Regarding search
(11:08):
and rescue operations. My other partners that have come before me,
I think we're making it pretty clear that there are
multiple reasons why we cannot let people in. Yet, yes,
we're trying to work towards that. I'm going to say
it's probably at least a week out. You've heard that already.
Our search and rescue operations continue in both a Eton
(11:32):
and Palisades area. Searches are continuing, and we still have
a variety of work and structures to go through. But
even as we're going through some of these grids, there
are areas that we are holding because we believe there
may be deceased victims there. We have to hold for
(11:57):
the right time and the right resources to process the
scene correctly, and that's gonna take a little while.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Please be patient with us.
Speaker 8 (12:07):
We know people want to get back into their neighborhoods,
but we're talking about people who have passed and that's
not always a good thing to talk about in regards
to deaths. Unfortunately, we did go up by two yesterday,
one in the Eaton area and one in the Palisades area,
(12:31):
and we continue to work with multiple partners, not only
in the recovery of remains, but then ultimately the notification
or identification of the deceased and then the notification to
the next of ken with our partners at the Los
Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office. Regarding missing persons, there have
(12:53):
been a total of forty three missing missing person reports
taken in these incidences. Thank god, twelve of them have
been found to be safe. That's an increase of seven
more that were safely found. But we do have thirty
one active missing persons reported twenty four in the Eaton area,
(13:16):
that is an increase of four from yesterday. Seven in
the Palisades area, which is an increase of one from yesterday.
As I conclude, if you have any questions about updated
either evacuation orders or warnings road closures, please go to
(13:36):
Alacounty dot gov slash emergency. I will now introduce the
Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department, Jim McDonald.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Thank you, Sheriff. Good morning.
Speaker 9 (13:50):
Over the last week, the magnitude of this disaster has
come into focus. I remained humbled by the scope of
the destruction, but also amazed by the countless acts of
biness I've witnessed and the heroic acts undertaken by so many.
WILL continue to remain committed to protecting lives and property
and remain focused on keeping the public safe as all
(14:11):
stakeholders continue to work to make evacuation zone safe for repopulation.
Please know that LAPD remains on tactical alert and will
continue to dedicate whatever resources are necessary to keep everyone safe.
For the upcoming twenty four hour period, LAPED will continue
to deploy approximately six hundred officers to the impacted areas
with support from the Los Angeles Airport Police, Port Police
(14:33):
and the National Guard, who provided approximately six hundred soldiers
assigned to the Palisades incident. Were very grateful for their support.
Also joining our efforts, the California Highway Patrol sent additional
officers to the Palisades area, and these contributions are important
as they free up LAPD officers to stay focused on
crime suppression and investigations. We've deployed volunteers from Team Rubicon
(14:58):
who are answering questions at checkpoint and are easily identifiable
by the gray T shirts. I want to thank our
LAPED officers and our partner agencies for their ongoing support
and keeping our community safe. On the missing persons front,
we continue to dedicate resources to all reports of missing persons.
As of this morning, we have thirty eight reported missing.
(15:20):
Thirty of those have been found safe, three have most
likely been found deceased, and five remain missing. We have
no new fire area related arrests or notable arrests within
this last twenty four hour period. If you notice anything
suspicious so potentially connected to these incidents, please report it immediately.
You can do so anonymously through crime Stoppers by calling
(15:42):
Los Angeles crime Stoppers at eight hundred two two two tips,
or by visiting LA crimestoppers dot org. Inclosing, I know
that for so many the events of the last few
days have been life altering. Please know that as we
move forward, the LAPED remainsmitted to keeping you and our
community safe as we recover.
Speaker 10 (16:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (16:04):
I'd like to introduce now US Environmental Protection Agency Incident
Commander Tara Fitzgerald.
Speaker 11 (16:14):
Thank you, Good morning. I'm Tara Fitzgerald. I'm with the
United States Environmental Protection Agency. The us EPA has been
tasked by FEMA to conduct Phase one household hazardous materials
removal in the Burn footprints.
Speaker 7 (16:29):
We are beginning this work today.
Speaker 11 (16:31):
We have personnel on the ground in both the Eton
and Palisades footprints conducting assessments. We're working closely with state
and local agencies to conduct this work, and the initial
phase of household hazard's materials includes removal of the most
(16:53):
immediate risk to public health and workers returning to work
within the burn footprint that includes things like pesticides, batteries,
including the risk of damaged lithium ion batteries, fuel, and
other things that would normally go to a household hazardous
waste management landfill. Again, we are working quickly to ramp
(17:19):
up and look forward to being able to support this
recovery effort. Next up is La County public Works Director
Mark Pistria.
Speaker 12 (17:34):
Good morning everyone, and again my heart goes out to
the residents of both fire areas within the city and
the Altadina area. Right now, the public works directors from
both the City of Los Angeles and myself for the
County Los Angeles are actively assessing the damage that's occurred
to these fires and making provisions to create safe access
(17:55):
for our residents and make the lots safe as well
for enter We are advising the sheriff and the chief
of Police from the cities about repopulation. Our part in
that is to be certain that we can get a
resident back in free from hazards when they enter their property.
The properties have been damaged beyond belief. They are full
(18:16):
of sediment, debris, silt, and hazardous materials. You just heard
our partner from EPA who are here to help us
remove and prepare the area, remove th toxics from the facilities.
But what remains is a load of debris that also
has to be removed from the site. So we are
working on that process of debris removal in conjunction with
(18:38):
the City of Los Angeles. We are also working with
the utilities, as I said, to restore power, water, and
sewer to the locations, all of which have been damaged
to the point that they cannot be delivered safely currently
in most of the areas. Some areas, as Sheriff alluded to,
may be able to return because those communities didn't server
(18:59):
this much infrastructure damage. We are also as the chief
engineer of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, we
are also assessing the impact to the flood control system
that serves the entire region, including both these burn areas.
Both areas suffered watershed damage burned to such a significance
that we expect massive debris laden flows when it rains.
(19:21):
Our system of flood control is designed to handle that
debris and along with the streets. However, in an event
that we have major rain, we do expect that all
of the street areas and all the communities will be
impacted by debris flows that could be hazardous to human health.
In order to address this, we are developing plans for
both areas to capture and hold this debris back as
(19:45):
much as we can during a rain event. I have
to give everyone an early warning that we do expect
the window to open for rain in the later part
of this month, and so we are already pre deploying
the labor forces the area to make sure that the
fleck control system is ready as well as our street
system is ready again as much as possible for that
(20:08):
rain event. So we are coordinating utilities, We're advising both
the city and the county about our readiness for people
to return. That work is ongoing and we will continue
to provide updates as we make our way through the system,
so that essentially you can live there safely and our
first responders can serve you. That's the other thing is
(20:29):
we could have incidents once you get back in, and
we need to have the access in place and the
water in place to take care of what may be
future incidents, even structure fires. So there's lots of work
to do for our public works agencies in order for
us to say that these areas are ready to be restored. Lastly,
on rebuilding, the rebuilding process will be streamlined. It will
(20:53):
be organized as directed by both elected office bodies, but
particularly the Border Supervisors have directed me to prepare the
Altadena area as if it is a master planned community
in which we are redeveloping the entire area. This master
planning is already beginning. When I say master planning, what
I'm talking about is preparing your properties for you to
(21:15):
restore your homes on them. That again involves master planning
all the utilities, the water system, the sewer system, and
the road system. The first step in that process of
development is to remove the debris from the site. As
you heard from EPA, they'll take the toxics off. The county,
in conjunction with the city, will be doing a debris
(21:35):
removal process in which we will work together to safely
remove the debris from an environmental perspective and from a
site readiness perspective, so that your property will be ready
to be rebuilt on properly and orderly. That system is
already in place. We're working with the federal government and
the state government to put that into place, and there'll
(21:56):
be more information to come on that process. If you
want to learn more about the rebuilding process, please go
to Recovery dot LA County dot gov. Thank you, good morning.
Speaker 13 (22:13):
I'm LA County Supervisor Katherine Barger and Chair of the board.
Yesterday I visited ultimed Clinic in East Washington on East
Washington in Pasadena, just overlooking Eaton Canyon. This building was
one of the.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
First lost in last week's fire.
Speaker 13 (22:28):
The Ultimate Clinic is right next door to a skilled
nursing facility, the same one that I'm sure we all watch.
Speaker 10 (22:36):
That was.
Speaker 13 (22:39):
Evacuated because there were elderly residents and they were being
wheeled down the street while embers blew past the building
as it burned. Visiting with Ultimate team was a stark
reminder that our communities lost more than just their homes.
They lost their businesses, their communities.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
And their access to healthcare.
Speaker 13 (23:00):
Despite the lingering destruction, all tomed is already planning to
return and provide services to the neighborhood. I left my
visit full of hope that not only will our residence rebuild,
but the full community will return around them.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
This morning on Lake Avenue.
Speaker 13 (23:21):
Next to the grocery outlet, a large sign stands saying
Altadena is strong, we will rebuild. I know there's been
a lot of confusion and un answered questions about why
people can't return to their properties. I want to make
sure that everyone knows what goes into safely repopulating an area.
(23:44):
It is important for all residents returning to their properties
to do so safely.
Speaker 7 (23:49):
That is why Incident Command has.
Speaker 13 (23:50):
Been messaging precautions that need to be taken. We cannot
allow residents to continually be frustrated every day without a timeline.
They deserve these answers, and I am pushing the Unified
Command to be swift and clear with the community. We've
also installed signs across the roads leading into the impacted
(24:12):
areas to educate residents on the risk. We will also
be equipping our residents with tools to return safely, which
means gloves, eye goggles to make sure that when they.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Are on the site, they are protected.
Speaker 13 (24:29):
As residents repopulate the area, debris cleaning kits will be
made available to give residents everything they need to safely
sift through their debris and look for valuables. I'm also
asking the Department of mental Health to be on the
ground with community members to assist them with the emotional
load of re entering as we consider all the components
(24:53):
of debris removal. I wanted to briefly mention mud slides
because they are always a risk after for a major
fire event. The county is fully committed to bracing for
these additional weather forecasts. We will take all necessary staff
to prepare alta dina and look out for our residents.
(25:14):
I and our entire county are dedicated to proactively identifying
and addressing the needs of our residents and keeping them
safe in the process.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
I make you that promise.
Speaker 13 (25:26):
With that, i'd like to introduce La City Mayor Karen Bass.
Speaker 7 (25:33):
Thank you, supervisor. Good morning.
Speaker 14 (25:36):
I don't believe that we can thank our first responders enough.
The firefighters, the police officers have been working twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week through this emergency.
We have to make sure that we can continue to
help them, and so I will reiterate as I've said
the last couple of days. If you're in an area
(25:58):
where you're not supposed to be, please leave. If you're
in an area that is still facing a warning, please
get ready to leave now and consider leaving early. I
am hoping that as the winds subside, that we can
see a light at the end of the tunnel and
that individuals can get their life back on track to
(26:21):
recover and to rebuild. Yesterday I was at the disaster
Recovery Center. It opened full time yesterday beginning at nine
in the morning, and over three hundred families visited. I
hope that people will continue to encourage and spread the
word about the disaster recovery centers. There is a variety
(26:42):
of services that you can get there, short term financial
and housing relief, or evacuates, driver's license California IDs replaced,
FEMA and SBA are there to assist businesses, and I'm
extending the deadline to file city business taxes from the
end of February to the end of March. Crisis intervention
(27:06):
services are there and while you're in the recovery center,
you can see the emotional toll that this disaster has
taken on people.
Speaker 7 (27:17):
As I spoke to people who.
Speaker 14 (27:19):
Had lost their homes or who did still were not
sure the status of their homes, missing pets, the toll
you can see mounting on them. But what was hopeful
was the fact that there were services there to take
care of them, their mental health and other social services
(27:39):
that are there. I was also encouraged that there were
a number of people sitting at the city services tables
who were ready to rebuild. The executive orders that were
put in place are already being implemented. City departments were there,
building a safety, department of water and power are there
on site. Now I want to thank the incredible work
(28:00):
of many nonprofits of course there.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
All right, why don't we go ahead and bail out
of this?
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Because Karen Bass rarely has anything to say of any
importance or relevance, and she has not disappointed, very very
impressed with her ability to do this continuously and without
stopping and keeping her support for her.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
How do I put this without signing it completely.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Nope, I'm gonna go ahead and say it to support
her idiocy on a regular level.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
All right, Joel, Good morning, Bill.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Okay, So obviously the big, big story here locally is
the fires, and insurance is going to be a big
story as a matter of fact, as the fires or
the story itself fades away and we go into and
now getting people back home, the issue of the environmental
(29:03):
problems and insurance. So let's talk about insurance and what's
going on.
Speaker 15 (29:08):
Sure, Yeah, I mean that is a big topic, and
we could go in a lot of directions discussing this.
I think it's just important to highlight the overarching nature
of what's happening in the insurance marketplace in California now
and how you know, the total insured losses seem to
be stacking up tens of billions of dollars in all likelihood,
(29:30):
and the Fair Plan doesn't seem like it's got enough
money or anywhere near enough money to you know, hold
up its end of the bargain for people who are insurance.
So the state of California is gonna have to make
a decision I think about how they're going to cover
those people who have been impacted by the fires, and
then when it comes to creating a marketplace that's sustainable
(29:51):
for insurance companies and for homeowners, you know, moving forward
into the coming years, they're going to have to figure
something out on that front too, because, as we've seen
over the past few years making this, these fires have
an even greater impact as insurers have stop writing policies,
especially in some of the most wild fire prone areas
people just don't have the coverage they need. Coverage is
(30:13):
getting more expensive, and it's starting to become kind of
a crisis of sorts essentially in the state.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Yeah, I did a story this morning, and I didn't
even know that this was going on. First of all,
private insurance versus the Fair Plan. The Fair Plan being
as you discussed, the state system, and this is for
those people who can't get insurance. This is the last
resort and it's a state program. It costs a fortune
to be part of it. But as you said, there
(30:40):
are people that just can't get insurance. So if they
want insurancy, well, if they have a mortgage, for example,
you have to have insurance if you own your own home,
which I'm surprised that the number of people actually do.
You can go bear if you want. I don't know
who's crazy enough to do it, but you can go bear.
And if a fire comes, goodbye to your house and
you don't have you have to come up with all
the dollars to rebuild it. But the Fair Plan is
(31:02):
the California Plan as a last resort, and it's only
fire insurance. The Fair Plan doesn't have near enough money,
not even close, not even close. Now the other side
of it, and I didn't know this either, the private
insurers they.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Actually have enough money to cover the claims.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Not one of them is going to None of the
majors are going to go bankrupt on this, which goes
to show you what the insurance Commissioner has done in
terms of forcing the reserves. And it also now shows
what the state has not done in the Fair Plan.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
And that's what we're going to get screwed.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Now do you think that California the taxpayer, Well, at
some point the taxpayer is going to pay, But is
the state.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Going to cover the loss? Is the Fair Plan or
does it just go broke?
Speaker 11 (31:49):
No?
Speaker 15 (31:49):
I mean I think that is probably what's going to happen,
is the state is going to backstop the Fair Plan
because if you don't, then essentially all confidence is lost
in the plan as an agent of insurance for more
homeowners in the state. But what has to happen because
you're talking about, yeah, these the insurance companies in the
state of California do offer coverage, they are going to
(32:11):
be able to pay out these claims. It's going to
be an onerous process, right for anybody who is filing
a claim and who was affected especially and this could
be like a and will be a multi year process,
a part time job or a full time job of
sorts for people trying to rebuild. I mean, I can't
imagine it's going to be awful, but yet the money
(32:31):
will be there. It doesn't mean, though, that something doesn't
need to happen for the future, because the state of
California needs to allow some of these insurance companies. I
know it doesn't sound fun, but they need to allow
these insurance companies to increase rates so that they can,
especially with the potentially worse wildfires coming down the piking
(32:51):
years to come, they need to be able to be
somewhat profitable so that they can write policies in the
state of California has essentially said no, you can't raise right,
you can't raise rates, and they continue year after year
to say no, if you don't, don't raise rates because
it's not politically viable for me as the insurance commissioner,
for us as elected officials to allow those rates to increase.
But then what happens is these insurance companies just slowly
(33:15):
but surely and silently leave the state, reducing the number
of options that homeowners have. And now that's what has
left us kind of in the state that we're in.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, and no, one of the problems that about thirty
states have exactly what we have. And that's an elected
insurance commissioner that literally controls whether an insurance company can
raise rates. It has to be an okay from Laura,
who is our insurance commissioner, And as you said, he
is elected, and there's nothing more important for an elected
(33:45):
official than to be re elected or to get elected.
And so your opinion, We're going to come back in
just a moment. If an insurance commissioner has a choice
between watching his entire family be run over by a
truck or being re elected, which way do you think
he'll go?
Speaker 10 (34:02):
Right, Yes, of course we know the direction that they're
going to opt for.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Yes, exactly, all right, Joel, Once again, we're talking about
the fires because of course that's everything right now, the
local story, and that is dealing with the insurance companies.
We talked about dealing with the insurance companies and people
have to obviously be somewhat patient because let's ask this,
how many.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Clients does a stite.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Farm have in that area or any or the largest
insurer hundreds if not if not more. They don't have
enough agents, they don't have people to deal with it.
So what do you do? How do you make it faster?
Do you make it faster? Do you hire a public
insurance adjuster? Do you have a lawyer? Do you call
up and scream? Which way do you go?
Speaker 15 (34:47):
Lots of questions in there, bill, And you're right, I mean,
this is going to be a time consuming, slow moving process,
and so it is important to kind of get started,
get the ball rolling, call your insurance company and file
acclaim if you have one that's worth making.
Speaker 10 (35:05):
And for the time being, because.
Speaker 15 (35:07):
This is going to be kind of a slow role
from a rebuild perspective, but also from even hearing back
from the insurance company and getting an adjuster on the
ground to kind of look and see what's going on.
It could take weeks or months, I think for even
just kind of to get the ball rolling. So for
the time being, it's really important to document everything. When
it comes to the food that you might be you
(35:30):
might be eating out right, hotel nights, transportation, any sort
of clothing let's say that you might need to purchase
because hey, you know, your clothing was in your house
and you're gone any sort of that's really important to
document those expenses that you're incurring in the time being
before your insurance company even as a chance to respond
(35:51):
to you.
Speaker 10 (35:51):
I just want to just want people to keep those
records now that.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
You can get back fairly quickly.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
The insurance companies aren't going to really argue the cost
of clothing. I mean, they're not going to give you
new clothing. If you had a pair of Gucci shoes
or a three hundred dollars pair of jeans, you know
they're going to say, wait a minute, and by the way,
do you keep receipts, you know, from when you buy
those jeans? Well, yeah, you have the credit card receipt,
et cetera. And I don't know if they're going to
(36:18):
pay you back for that. They could say you don't
need three three hundred dollars pair of jenes.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
I've never made this kind of a claim in front
of insurance company. But rebuilding, re repairing, I mean, how
long is it going to take you to even get
a bid or competitive bids.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
I mean, this thing is going to go on for years.
Speaker 10 (36:37):
It has to Oh, for sure.
Speaker 15 (36:39):
I mean, and that's the thing is contractors, right, I mean,
I'm sure we'll see contractors coming in from out of
state in an attempt to get business because there aren't
going to be enough contractors for the work that needs
to be done. And it seems like the state is saying, hey,
we're going to waive some of these, you know, regulatory
hurdles that you might have to jump through typically in
(37:00):
order to build, to build or rebuild on this property.
But that doesn't mean that it's not going to take
a heck of a lot of time just from a
finding the right contractor and getting the ball rolling on
that perspective too. So, yeah, you're right, this is a long,
slow process. I think something else I just really want
to mention it too for everyone else out there listening,
is to let this be like a warning to you
(37:21):
to document what you do own. And so I think
it's a good exercise once a year to walk through
your house with your smartphone and video essentially the belongings,
the contents of your home, because when you're filing an
insurance claim, let's say there is like a total loss
and your home is gone, and the contents inside of
your home or gone. It's really hard to recollect and
(37:41):
to remember every single thing that you owned, right, So,
whether it's jewelry, whether it's artwork, find china, antiques, things
like that. Like you just want to like walk around
your home and document the contents because that's going to
make filing a claim so much easier to be able
to prove some of those belongings. But then just from
you know, to be able to document and remember exactly
(38:02):
what you have so that you can request it from
the insurance company and that you're not just not getting
what's o to you.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Right And can I share a Joel Larsguard tip right now?
And that is in terms of documenting and videoing, if
you have anybody that's extremely wealthy, video their house and
their belongings because the insurance companies will never know the difference.
Speaker 10 (38:25):
Brilliant.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Thank you, No, that's you. I'm going to give you
the credit for.
Speaker 10 (38:28):
That one, Joel, Thank you, thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
All right, Sunday from twelve to two right here on
KFI and his social is at how to Money Joel,
So we'll catch you on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Take care, Joel.
Speaker 10 (38:40):
All right, thanks Bill, all right, we're done.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
So we're not gonna have a chance to do much
with Israel. Probably do it tomorrow, but it looks like
the truce may be falling apart. And I'll share more
of that tomorrow. In the meantime, I am taking phone
calls off the air for Handle on the Law eight
seven seven five to zero eleven fifty eight seven seven
five two zero eleven.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Fifty coming up, Mark Thompson, mar.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
La Teaz filling in for Gary and Shannon and the
phone number starting in just a moment eight seven seven
five two zero eleven fifty Handle on the Law. All right, guys,
we're done tomorrow we come in or actually Amy comes
in with wake up call, and then I'm back with
an kono and hopefully Neil, who's a little under the weather.
(39:25):
This is KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Catch my show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Your list Saints KFI AM six forty The Bill Handles
show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We're now going to go to the latest update on
the fires in southern California apartment. The Eton Fire remains
estimated at fourteen thousand, one hundred and seventeen acres with
fifty five percent containment. Over seven thousand structures are damaged
or destroyed, and we have three thousand, four hundred and
(00:29):
four firefighting personnel assigned to the incident. Sixty percent of
our damage inspections for the Eton Fire are completed. Impacted
residents may continue to visit Recovery dot LA County dot
gov to view maps showing damage assessments. Please note that
(00:52):
these maps are being updated daily. A limited red flag
warning remains in effect through three today for the Santa
Susanna Mountains, the western San Gabriel Mountains, and the I
five Corridor. We look forward to the weather conditions returning
to normal this evening. However, a moderate red flag event
(01:16):
is predicted for this coming Monday and Tuesday. Please be
assured that our firefighters continue to work twenty four to
seven to achieve full containment of these wildfires as fast
as we can. We continue to plan for the repopulation
of evacuated areas when safe. The repopulation of residents in
(01:40):
the evacuation order areas will not occur for at least
one more week for the areas that are deemed safe.
So when I say one more week, that does not
include the entire evacuation order area. We're doing our best
(02:02):
as we know that this is a challenge for our residents. Today,
we are focused on efforts to reset department staffing to
ensure our personnel get the much needed and overdue rest
and recovery they require after being at work and on
the line for the last eight to nine days.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Straight without a break.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I'm also mindful that many of our firefighters will continue
to be assigned to these ongoing incidents, working side by
side with fellow first responders. Yesterday, the Los Angeles County
Fire Department made good progress towards partnering with a reputable
five OHO one C three that we'll be able to
(02:45):
accept cash checks and electronic donations for the Los Angeles
County Fire Department. I ask interested donors to be patient
as we finalize our donation process, and I thank you
for wanting to support our brave Los Angeles County Fire
(03:05):
Department firefighters. I would now like to introduce Jerry mcgania,
Deputy Incident Commander cal Fire Incident Management Team too.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Thank you, Chief. Good morning once again, Jeremyganian, Deputy Chief
Incident Commander. For both the Palisades and the Eton incident.
In the last twenty four hours, there has been little
to no fire growth, with exception on the Palisades, we've
had several interior pockets continuing to burn. Threats still exist
(03:41):
with structures and critical infrastructure, and crews continue to strengthen
fire perimeter and coordinate infrastructure repairs use. Our operations continue
on both incidents and are moving quickly through the areas
with minimal impact.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
We continue to.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Preposition resources and we currently have a mobilization center in
Riverside County at Belmont that are available for any potential
new starts. CalFire will continue to support our partners in
unified command, and we would like to request that you
remain patient with us during this difficult time. For the
(04:19):
most current fire information, please visit fire dot CA dot
GOLV and next, I'd like to introduce La City Fire Chief.
Speaker 6 (04:27):
Thankfully, well, good morning, everyone, and due to the continued
around the clock efforts of our firefighters, first responders, and
all those that are assigned to the incident, we are
very fortunate that this last win event did not cause
any expansion of.
Speaker 7 (04:47):
The Palisades fire.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
In addition, as I mentioned yesterday, the brush fire in
the Lakeview Terrace area of Los Angeles was aggressively attacked
and halted.
Speaker 7 (04:57):
We appreciate, truly appreciate.
Speaker 6 (04:59):
The CA community and how they've remained alert and followed
all advice. Together, we were able to move forward in
the recovery of these devastating fires.
Speaker 7 (05:11):
As we take a step back.
Speaker 6 (05:12):
And we've made it through this wind event, I think
it's really important just briefly we talk about the winds
aren't necessarily here in the city, but with that we
still have gosh a large amount of unburned dry fuel
with low humidity.
Speaker 7 (05:29):
We need to make sure that the.
Speaker 6 (05:30):
Community is thinking about how to prepare and prevent at
this point.
Speaker 7 (05:35):
And also what we just heard is there's.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
A potential Santa Ana winds coming Monday and Tuesday. Now
to focus on a different area as we're coming out
of these wind events, for unimpacted areas of the city.
Just as we take a big step back, there are
more extreme winds on the horizons, like I said, next week,
and our community needs to remain ready. It is important
(06:01):
that you protect yourselves and your family by planning, preparing,
and staying aware. Flying members from a wildfire can destroy
homes over a mile away. Taking the necessary measures to
prepare your home can help increase its chance of survival
when wildland fires strike. Clear all brush within two hundred
(06:25):
feet of your home, allow the LFD and other first
responders that fighting chance to respond quickly if a wildfire
reaches your community. For more information, visit LFD dot org
BackFlash Wildfire. I will now provide an update on the
Palisades fire. The fire is twenty three seven hundred and
(06:47):
thirteen acres with twenty two percent containment with five thousand
and thirty two personnel assigned. Using infrared mapping, air and
ground resources continue to seek out hotspots and putting them out.
Favorable weather conditions assisted firefighters in increasing the containment and extinguishment.
(07:08):
Now I know that the question of all of us
up here is on the top of your minds of
when we can return and you can return back to
the communities I can tell you know that we are
working as quickly as possible to do just that, to
make sure that this is safe for you to return
to your communities. The ongoing search and rescue mission continues
(07:30):
to limit utility agencies' abilities to repair infrastructure. I can
tell you the entire city family is working collaboratively to
get you back into your homes and communities as soon
and as safely as possible. I just want to give
you one small example of this. Yesterday, our hazmat teams
(07:50):
from across the state work tirelessly for the purpose of
ensuring that when the evacuation orders are lifted, our community
members can rest assured that their homes have been scanned
and screened and cleared of any dangerous chemicals. This will
take time, so when we ask you to remain patient,
(08:13):
know that together we are working around the clock to
get you back to your homes into the community. With that,
I would now like to introduce Sheriff Luna.
Speaker 8 (08:27):
Good morning, Robert Luna, Sheriff of Los Angeles County. Personnel
deployment it remains about the same. We have about thirteen
hundred deputies to both incidences, both that they eat and
file and Palisades fire. We have about two hundred and
twenty California Highway Patrol officers. The governor asked that we
(08:49):
surge more CHP officers into both areas from a looting perspective,
so they've been working with our folks to do that.
So I thank the governor for his support. We still
have assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration from the Los
Angeles Filed Office. We have over twenty agents with us
that are assisting US, and we still continue to have
(09:12):
well over nine hundred California National Guard personnel that are
assisting multiple agencies in our area. The impacted area here,
evacuation orders remain. They fluctuate between one hundred here, one
hundred there. They go up, they go down, but under
evacuation orders about eighty two thousand, four hundred warnings about
(09:37):
the same as yesterday ninety thousand, four hundred. Please keep
up with the information we're putting out because that could change,
hopefully for the better, but we'll see what happens. The
curfew is still in effect from six pm to six am,
so again, you don't belong there, Please do not go there.
(09:59):
Regarding a rep for the La County Sheriffs area. Our
total is at forty seven. We have thirty six at
the Eton incident and eleven at the Palisades incident. Palisades
increased by several last night three thirty six or I'm sorry,
Eaton did not increase the arrests that were. We continue
(10:22):
to see and I want to just appoint a clarification
for our community members. One is I talk about curfew,
which takes place from six pm to six am. There
is another penal code that we use during the day
because if you are not supposed to be in an
evacuation order area and a law enforcement officer, deputy sheriff, CHP, officer, LAPD,
(10:48):
whoever it is, tells you to leave and you refuse
to leave, you are subject to arrest during the day
as well. I just want to clarify that again. If
you do not have any legitimate business day or night,
do not go. You are subject to arrest. Regarding search
(11:08):
and rescue operations. My other partners that have come before me,
I think we're making it pretty clear that there are
multiple reasons why we cannot let people in. Yet, yes,
we're trying to work towards that. I'm going to say
it's probably at least a week out. You've heard that already.
Our search and rescue operations continue in both a Eton
(11:32):
and Palisades area. Searches are continuing, and we still have
a variety of work and structures to go through. But
even as we're going through some of these grids, there
are areas that we are holding because we believe there
may be deceased victims there. We have to hold for
(11:57):
the right time and the right resources to process the
scene correctly, and that's gonna take a little while.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Please be patient with us.
Speaker 8 (12:07):
We know people want to get back into their neighborhoods,
but we're talking about people who have passed and that's
not always a good thing to talk about in regards
to deaths. Unfortunately, we did go up by two yesterday,
one in the Eaton area and one in the Palisades area,
(12:31):
and we continue to work with multiple partners, not only
in the recovery of remains, but then ultimately the notification
or identification of the deceased and then the notification to
the next of ken with our partners at the Los
Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office. Regarding missing persons, there have
(12:53):
been a total of forty three missing missing person reports
taken in these incidences. Thank god, twelve of them have
been found to be safe. That's an increase of seven
more that were safely found. But we do have thirty
one active missing persons reported twenty four in the Eaton area,
(13:16):
that is an increase of four from yesterday. Seven in
the Palisades area, which is an increase of one from yesterday.
As I conclude, if you have any questions about updated
either evacuation orders or warnings road closures, please go to
(13:36):
Alacounty dot gov slash emergency. I will now introduce the
Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department, Jim McDonald.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Thank you, Sheriff. Good morning.
Speaker 9 (13:50):
Over the last week, the magnitude of this disaster has
come into focus. I remained humbled by the scope of
the destruction, but also amazed by the countless acts of
biness I've witnessed and the heroic acts undertaken by so many.
WILL continue to remain committed to protecting lives and property
and remain focused on keeping the public safe as all
(14:11):
stakeholders continue to work to make evacuation zone safe for repopulation.
Please know that LAPD remains on tactical alert and will
continue to dedicate whatever resources are necessary to keep everyone safe.
For the upcoming twenty four hour period, LAPED will continue
to deploy approximately six hundred officers to the impacted areas
with support from the Los Angeles Airport Police, Port Police
(14:33):
and the National Guard, who provided approximately six hundred soldiers
assigned to the Palisades incident. Were very grateful for their support.
Also joining our efforts, the California Highway Patrol sent additional
officers to the Palisades area, and these contributions are important
as they free up LAPD officers to stay focused on
crime suppression and investigations. We've deployed volunteers from Team Rubicon
(14:58):
who are answering questions at checkpoint and are easily identifiable
by the gray T shirts. I want to thank our
LAPED officers and our partner agencies for their ongoing support
and keeping our community safe. On the missing persons front,
we continue to dedicate resources to all reports of missing persons.
As of this morning, we have thirty eight reported missing.
(15:20):
Thirty of those have been found safe, three have most
likely been found deceased, and five remain missing. We have
no new fire area related arrests or notable arrests within
this last twenty four hour period. If you notice anything
suspicious so potentially connected to these incidents, please report it immediately.
You can do so anonymously through crime Stoppers by calling
(15:42):
Los Angeles crime Stoppers at eight hundred two two two tips,
or by visiting LA crimestoppers dot org. Inclosing, I know
that for so many the events of the last few
days have been life altering. Please know that as we
move forward, the LAPED remainsmitted to keeping you and our
community safe as we recover.
Speaker 10 (16:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 9 (16:04):
I'd like to introduce now US Environmental Protection Agency Incident
Commander Tara Fitzgerald.
Speaker 11 (16:14):
Thank you, Good morning. I'm Tara Fitzgerald. I'm with the
United States Environmental Protection Agency. The us EPA has been
tasked by FEMA to conduct Phase one household hazardous materials
removal in the Burn footprints.
Speaker 7 (16:29):
We are beginning this work today.
Speaker 11 (16:31):
We have personnel on the ground in both the Eton
and Palisades footprints conducting assessments. We're working closely with state
and local agencies to conduct this work, and the initial
phase of household hazard's materials includes removal of the most
(16:53):
immediate risk to public health and workers returning to work
within the burn footprint that includes things like pesticides, batteries,
including the risk of damaged lithium ion batteries, fuel, and
other things that would normally go to a household hazardous
waste management landfill. Again, we are working quickly to ramp
(17:19):
up and look forward to being able to support this
recovery effort. Next up is La County public Works Director
Mark Pistria.
Speaker 12 (17:34):
Good morning everyone, and again my heart goes out to
the residents of both fire areas within the city and
the Altadina area. Right now, the public works directors from
both the City of Los Angeles and myself for the
County Los Angeles are actively assessing the damage that's occurred
to these fires and making provisions to create safe access
(17:55):
for our residents and make the lots safe as well
for enter We are advising the sheriff and the chief
of Police from the cities about repopulation. Our part in
that is to be certain that we can get a
resident back in free from hazards when they enter their property.
The properties have been damaged beyond belief. They are full
(18:16):
of sediment, debris, silt, and hazardous materials. You just heard
our partner from EPA who are here to help us
remove and prepare the area, remove th toxics from the facilities.
But what remains is a load of debris that also
has to be removed from the site. So we are
working on that process of debris removal in conjunction with
(18:38):
the City of Los Angeles. We are also working with
the utilities, as I said, to restore power, water, and
sewer to the locations, all of which have been damaged
to the point that they cannot be delivered safely currently
in most of the areas. Some areas, as Sheriff alluded to,
may be able to return because those communities didn't server
(18:59):
this much infrastructure damage. We are also as the chief
engineer of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, we
are also assessing the impact to the flood control system
that serves the entire region, including both these burn areas.
Both areas suffered watershed damage burned to such a significance
that we expect massive debris laden flows when it rains.
(19:21):
Our system of flood control is designed to handle that
debris and along with the streets. However, in an event
that we have major rain, we do expect that all
of the street areas and all the communities will be
impacted by debris flows that could be hazardous to human health.
In order to address this, we are developing plans for
both areas to capture and hold this debris back as
(19:45):
much as we can during a rain event. I have
to give everyone an early warning that we do expect
the window to open for rain in the later part
of this month, and so we are already pre deploying
the labor forces the area to make sure that the
fleck control system is ready as well as our street
system is ready again as much as possible for that
(20:08):
rain event. So we are coordinating utilities, We're advising both
the city and the county about our readiness for people
to return. That work is ongoing and we will continue
to provide updates as we make our way through the system,
so that essentially you can live there safely and our
first responders can serve you. That's the other thing is
(20:29):
we could have incidents once you get back in, and
we need to have the access in place and the
water in place to take care of what may be
future incidents, even structure fires. So there's lots of work
to do for our public works agencies in order for
us to say that these areas are ready to be restored. Lastly,
on rebuilding, the rebuilding process will be streamlined. It will
(20:53):
be organized as directed by both elected office bodies, but
particularly the Border Supervisors have directed me to prepare the
Altadena area as if it is a master planned community
in which we are redeveloping the entire area. This master
planning is already beginning. When I say master planning, what
I'm talking about is preparing your properties for you to
(21:15):
restore your homes on them. That again involves master planning
all the utilities, the water system, the sewer system, and
the road system. The first step in that process of
development is to remove the debris from the site. As
you heard from EPA, they'll take the toxics off. The county,
in conjunction with the city, will be doing a debris
(21:35):
removal process in which we will work together to safely
remove the debris from an environmental perspective and from a
site readiness perspective, so that your property will be ready
to be rebuilt on properly and orderly. That system is
already in place. We're working with the federal government and
the state government to put that into place, and there'll
(21:56):
be more information to come on that process. If you
want to learn more about the rebuilding process, please go
to Recovery dot LA County dot gov. Thank you, good morning.
Speaker 13 (22:13):
I'm LA County Supervisor Katherine Barger and Chair of the board.
Yesterday I visited ultimed Clinic in East Washington on East
Washington in Pasadena, just overlooking Eaton Canyon. This building was
one of the.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
First lost in last week's fire.
Speaker 13 (22:28):
The Ultimate Clinic is right next door to a skilled
nursing facility, the same one that I'm sure we all watch.
Speaker 10 (22:36):
That was.
Speaker 13 (22:39):
Evacuated because there were elderly residents and they were being
wheeled down the street while embers blew past the building
as it burned. Visiting with Ultimate team was a stark
reminder that our communities lost more than just their homes.
They lost their businesses, their communities.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
And their access to healthcare.
Speaker 13 (23:00):
Despite the lingering destruction, all tomed is already planning to
return and provide services to the neighborhood. I left my
visit full of hope that not only will our residence rebuild,
but the full community will return around them.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
This morning on Lake Avenue.
Speaker 13 (23:21):
Next to the grocery outlet, a large sign stands saying
Altadena is strong, we will rebuild. I know there's been
a lot of confusion and un answered questions about why
people can't return to their properties. I want to make
sure that everyone knows what goes into safely repopulating an area.
(23:44):
It is important for all residents returning to their properties
to do so safely.
Speaker 7 (23:49):
That is why Incident Command has.
Speaker 13 (23:50):
Been messaging precautions that need to be taken. We cannot
allow residents to continually be frustrated every day without a timeline.
They deserve these answers, and I am pushing the Unified
Command to be swift and clear with the community. We've
also installed signs across the roads leading into the impacted
(24:12):
areas to educate residents on the risk. We will also
be equipping our residents with tools to return safely, which
means gloves, eye goggles to make sure that when they.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Are on the site, they are protected.
Speaker 13 (24:29):
As residents repopulate the area, debris cleaning kits will be
made available to give residents everything they need to safely
sift through their debris and look for valuables. I'm also
asking the Department of mental Health to be on the
ground with community members to assist them with the emotional
load of re entering as we consider all the components
(24:53):
of debris removal. I wanted to briefly mention mud slides
because they are always a risk after for a major
fire event. The county is fully committed to bracing for
these additional weather forecasts. We will take all necessary staff
to prepare alta dina and look out for our residents.
(25:14):
I and our entire county are dedicated to proactively identifying
and addressing the needs of our residents and keeping them
safe in the process.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
I make you that promise.
Speaker 13 (25:26):
With that, i'd like to introduce La City Mayor Karen Bass.
Speaker 7 (25:33):
Thank you, supervisor. Good morning.
Speaker 14 (25:36):
I don't believe that we can thank our first responders enough.
The firefighters, the police officers have been working twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week through this emergency.
We have to make sure that we can continue to
help them, and so I will reiterate as I've said
the last couple of days. If you're in an area
(25:58):
where you're not supposed to be, please leave. If you're
in an area that is still facing a warning, please
get ready to leave now and consider leaving early. I
am hoping that as the winds subside, that we can
see a light at the end of the tunnel and
that individuals can get their life back on track to
(26:21):
recover and to rebuild. Yesterday I was at the disaster
Recovery Center. It opened full time yesterday beginning at nine
in the morning, and over three hundred families visited. I
hope that people will continue to encourage and spread the
word about the disaster recovery centers. There is a variety
(26:42):
of services that you can get there, short term financial
and housing relief, or evacuates, driver's license California IDs replaced,
FEMA and SBA are there to assist businesses, and I'm
extending the deadline to file city business taxes from the
end of February to the end of March. Crisis intervention
(27:06):
services are there and while you're in the recovery center,
you can see the emotional toll that this disaster has
taken on people.
Speaker 7 (27:17):
As I spoke to people who.
Speaker 14 (27:19):
Had lost their homes or who did still were not
sure the status of their homes, missing pets, the toll
you can see mounting on them. But what was hopeful
was the fact that there were services there to take
care of them, their mental health and other social services
(27:39):
that are there. I was also encouraged that there were
a number of people sitting at the city services tables
who were ready to rebuild. The executive orders that were
put in place are already being implemented. City departments were there,
building a safety, department of water and power are there
on site. Now I want to thank the incredible work
(28:00):
of many nonprofits of course there.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
All right, why don't we go ahead and bail out
of this?
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Because Karen Bass rarely has anything to say of any
importance or relevance, and she has not disappointed, very very
impressed with her ability to do this continuously and without
stopping and keeping her support for her.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
How do I put this without signing it completely.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Nope, I'm gonna go ahead and say it to support
her idiocy on a regular level.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
All right, Joel, Good morning, Bill.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Okay, So obviously the big, big story here locally is
the fires, and insurance is going to be a big
story as a matter of fact, as the fires or
the story itself fades away and we go into and
now getting people back home, the issue of the environmental
(29:03):
problems and insurance. So let's talk about insurance and what's
going on.
Speaker 15 (29:08):
Sure, Yeah, I mean that is a big topic, and
we could go in a lot of directions discussing this.
I think it's just important to highlight the overarching nature
of what's happening in the insurance marketplace in California now
and how you know, the total insured losses seem to
be stacking up tens of billions of dollars in all likelihood,
(29:30):
and the Fair Plan doesn't seem like it's got enough
money or anywhere near enough money to you know, hold
up its end of the bargain for people who are insurance.
So the state of California is gonna have to make
a decision I think about how they're going to cover
those people who have been impacted by the fires, and
then when it comes to creating a marketplace that's sustainable
(29:51):
for insurance companies and for homeowners, you know, moving forward
into the coming years, they're going to have to figure
something out on that front too, because, as we've seen
over the past few years making this, these fires have
an even greater impact as insurers have stop writing policies,
especially in some of the most wild fire prone areas
people just don't have the coverage they need. Coverage is
(30:13):
getting more expensive, and it's starting to become kind of
a crisis of sorts essentially in the state.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Yeah, I did a story this morning, and I didn't
even know that this was going on. First of all,
private insurance versus the Fair Plan. The Fair Plan being
as you discussed, the state system, and this is for
those people who can't get insurance. This is the last
resort and it's a state program. It costs a fortune
to be part of it. But as you said, there
(30:40):
are people that just can't get insurance. So if they
want insurancy, well, if they have a mortgage, for example,
you have to have insurance if you own your own home,
which I'm surprised that the number of people actually do.
You can go bear if you want. I don't know
who's crazy enough to do it, but you can go bear.
And if a fire comes, goodbye to your house and
you don't have you have to come up with all
the dollars to rebuild it. But the Fair Plan is
(31:02):
the California Plan as a last resort, and it's only
fire insurance. The Fair Plan doesn't have near enough money,
not even close, not even close. Now the other side
of it, and I didn't know this either, the private
insurers they.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Actually have enough money to cover the claims.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Not one of them is going to None of the
majors are going to go bankrupt on this, which goes
to show you what the insurance Commissioner has done in
terms of forcing the reserves. And it also now shows
what the state has not done in the Fair Plan.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
And that's what we're going to get screwed.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Now do you think that California the taxpayer, Well, at
some point the taxpayer is going to pay, But is
the state.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Going to cover the loss? Is the Fair Plan or
does it just go broke?
Speaker 11 (31:49):
No?
Speaker 15 (31:49):
I mean I think that is probably what's going to happen,
is the state is going to backstop the Fair Plan
because if you don't, then essentially all confidence is lost
in the plan as an agent of insurance for more
homeowners in the state. But what has to happen because
you're talking about, yeah, these the insurance companies in the
state of California do offer coverage, they are going to
(32:11):
be able to pay out these claims. It's going to
be an onerous process, right for anybody who is filing
a claim and who was affected especially and this could
be like a and will be a multi year process,
a part time job or a full time job of
sorts for people trying to rebuild. I mean, I can't
imagine it's going to be awful, but yet the money
(32:31):
will be there. It doesn't mean, though, that something doesn't
need to happen for the future, because the state of
California needs to allow some of these insurance companies. I
know it doesn't sound fun, but they need to allow
these insurance companies to increase rates so that they can,
especially with the potentially worse wildfires coming down the piking
(32:51):
years to come, they need to be able to be
somewhat profitable so that they can write policies in the
state of California has essentially said no, you can't raise right,
you can't raise rates, and they continue year after year
to say no, if you don't, don't raise rates because
it's not politically viable for me as the insurance commissioner,
for us as elected officials to allow those rates to increase.
But then what happens is these insurance companies just slowly
(33:15):
but surely and silently leave the state, reducing the number
of options that homeowners have. And now that's what has
left us kind of in the state that we're in.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, and no, one of the problems that about thirty
states have exactly what we have. And that's an elected
insurance commissioner that literally controls whether an insurance company can
raise rates. It has to be an okay from Laura,
who is our insurance commissioner, And as you said, he
is elected, and there's nothing more important for an elected
(33:45):
official than to be re elected or to get elected.
And so your opinion, We're going to come back in
just a moment. If an insurance commissioner has a choice
between watching his entire family be run over by a
truck or being re elected, which way do you think
he'll go?
Speaker 10 (34:02):
Right, Yes, of course we know the direction that they're
going to opt for.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Yes, exactly, all right, Joel, Once again, we're talking about
the fires because of course that's everything right now, the
local story, and that is dealing with the insurance companies.
We talked about dealing with the insurance companies and people
have to obviously be somewhat patient because let's ask this,
how many.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Clients does a stite.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Farm have in that area or any or the largest
insurer hundreds if not if not more. They don't have
enough agents, they don't have people to deal with it.
So what do you do? How do you make it faster?
Do you make it faster? Do you hire a public
insurance adjuster? Do you have a lawyer? Do you call
up and scream? Which way do you go?
Speaker 15 (34:47):
Lots of questions in there, bill, And you're right, I mean,
this is going to be a time consuming, slow moving process,
and so it is important to kind of get started,
get the ball rolling, call your insurance company and file
acclaim if you have one that's worth making.
Speaker 10 (35:05):
And for the time being, because.
Speaker 15 (35:07):
This is going to be kind of a slow role
from a rebuild perspective, but also from even hearing back
from the insurance company and getting an adjuster on the
ground to kind of look and see what's going on.
It could take weeks or months, I think for even
just kind of to get the ball rolling. So for
the time being, it's really important to document everything. When
it comes to the food that you might be you
(35:30):
might be eating out right, hotel nights, transportation, any sort
of clothing let's say that you might need to purchase
because hey, you know, your clothing was in your house
and you're gone any sort of that's really important to
document those expenses that you're incurring in the time being
before your insurance company even as a chance to respond
(35:51):
to you.
Speaker 10 (35:51):
I just want to just want people to keep those
records now that.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
You can get back fairly quickly.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
The insurance companies aren't going to really argue the cost
of clothing. I mean, they're not going to give you
new clothing. If you had a pair of Gucci shoes
or a three hundred dollars pair of jeans, you know
they're going to say, wait a minute, and by the way,
do you keep receipts, you know, from when you buy
those jeans? Well, yeah, you have the credit card receipt,
et cetera. And I don't know if they're going to
(36:18):
pay you back for that. They could say you don't
need three three hundred dollars pair of jenes.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
I've never made this kind of a claim in front
of insurance company. But rebuilding, re repairing, I mean, how
long is it going to take you to even get
a bid or competitive bids.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
I mean, this thing is going to go on for years.
Speaker 10 (36:37):
It has to Oh, for sure.
Speaker 15 (36:39):
I mean, and that's the thing is contractors, right, I mean,
I'm sure we'll see contractors coming in from out of
state in an attempt to get business because there aren't
going to be enough contractors for the work that needs
to be done. And it seems like the state is saying, hey,
we're going to waive some of these, you know, regulatory
hurdles that you might have to jump through typically in
(37:00):
order to build, to build or rebuild on this property.
But that doesn't mean that it's not going to take
a heck of a lot of time just from a
finding the right contractor and getting the ball rolling on
that perspective too. So, yeah, you're right, this is a long,
slow process. I think something else I just really want
to mention it too for everyone else out there listening,
is to let this be like a warning to you
(37:21):
to document what you do own. And so I think
it's a good exercise once a year to walk through
your house with your smartphone and video essentially the belongings,
the contents of your home, because when you're filing an
insurance claim, let's say there is like a total loss
and your home is gone, and the contents inside of
your home or gone. It's really hard to recollect and
(37:41):
to remember every single thing that you owned, right, So,
whether it's jewelry, whether it's artwork, find china, antiques, things
like that. Like you just want to like walk around
your home and document the contents because that's going to
make filing a claim so much easier to be able
to prove some of those belongings. But then just from
you know, to be able to document and remember exactly
(38:02):
what you have so that you can request it from
the insurance company and that you're not just not getting
what's o to you.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Right And can I share a Joel Larsguard tip right now?
And that is in terms of documenting and videoing, if
you have anybody that's extremely wealthy, video their house and
their belongings because the insurance companies will never know the difference.
Speaker 10 (38:25):
Brilliant.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Thank you, No, that's you. I'm going to give you
the credit for.
Speaker 10 (38:28):
That one, Joel, Thank you, thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
All right, Sunday from twelve to two right here on
KFI and his social is at how to Money Joel,
So we'll catch you on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Take care, Joel.
Speaker 10 (38:40):
All right, thanks Bill, all right, we're done.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
So we're not gonna have a chance to do much
with Israel. Probably do it tomorrow, but it looks like
the truce may be falling apart. And I'll share more
of that tomorrow. In the meantime, I am taking phone
calls off the air for Handle on the Law eight
seven seven five to zero eleven fifty eight seven seven
five two zero eleven.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Fifty coming up, Mark Thompson, mar.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
La Teaz filling in for Gary and Shannon and the
phone number starting in just a moment eight seven seven
five two zero eleven fifty Handle on the Law. All right, guys,
we're done tomorrow we come in or actually Amy comes
in with wake up call, and then I'm back with
an kono and hopefully Neil, who's a little under the weather.
(39:25):
This is KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Catch my show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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